UB women’s basketball (1-1) lost to the VCU Rams (2-2) 61-55 at Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA on Thursday night.
Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with a game-high 27 points while totaling nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Despite scoring nearly half of the Bulls’ points, she only shot nine of 26 from the field and four of 13 from the three-point range. Senior guard Hanna Hall scored eight points and grabbed two rebounds in 39 minutes of play. Sophomore forward Loren Christie added eight points with six rebounds and three assists on three of eight from the field including two of three from three-point range.
The Bulls were aggressively defensive in the first half, totaling eight steals by halftime. UB held a 30-27 lead heading into the second half, but ended on a poor note. The Bulls shot just 29% from the field and failed to score any points in the final two and a half minutes of the second quarter.
Halfway through the third quarter, UB shot just six of 18 from the field, with the team’s only points coming off turnovers and from the free throw line. With 4:44 remaining in the game, the Bulls held a 50-46 lead as the Rams started off the fourth quarter without having made a field goal for the first six minutes.
As the end of the game neared, the Rams heated up and the Bulls cooled down.
UB hit a scoring drought at the wrong time, as the Bulls failed to score a field goal for five and a half minutes in the fourth quarter, hitting just two free throws in that span. The Bulls faced a 57-52 deficit with just 48 seconds remaining. A three-pointer from Christie on the next possession would be the Bulls final points of the game, as the Rams made a few shots from the line to solidify the win.
VCU senior guard Taya Robinson led the Rams with 20 points, five rebounds, and two assists while redshirt junior forward Madison Hattix-Covington had 16 points and three rebounds on five of eight shooting.
The Rams went on a 13-3 run and shot four of four from the field over the last two minutes of the game.
UB will look to shake off the road loss when they face Canisius at Koessler Athletic Center on Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Hunter Skoczylas is the sports editor for The Spectrum. In his free time, he can be found looking up random sports statistics, jamming to Fleetwood Mac and dedicating his Sunday afternoons to watching the Buffalo Bills.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
