Women’s basketball (30-7, 13-5 MAC) defeated the Troy University Trojans (24-14, 13-5 SBC) 88-84 in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) Championship game on Saturday evening, in front of a sold-out Alumni Arena crowd of 5,650 people. This win marked the Bulls 30th win this season, breaking the program record of most wins in a season.
This was the second meeting between the two programs this season. The Bulls beat Troy 80-78 in the Mid-American Conference Sun Belt Challenge game back in November with a score of 80-87. All the pressure was on UB to go out and perform in front of a record breaking crowd.
There was no lack of standout performances from the team. Fifth year guard Chellia Watson scored 23 points to go along with her seven rebounds and six assists, alongside winning the WNIT Tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Senior guard Terah Harness caught fire late, making clutch shots over and over again, scoring 17 points for the team, 12 of which were from beyond the arc.
Fifth year guard Noelani Cornfield was honored after the win with a selection to the WNIT all-tournament team for her stellar play throughout the entire tournament, which included a double-double of 15 points and 11 assists. Sophomore guard Kirsten Lewis-Williams and senior forward Jordyn Beaty also had double-digit performances of 18 and 13, respectively, marking a total of five Bulls with an over ten point performance.
Watson, Beaty, and Harness have completed all their years of eligibility for the team, alongside senior guard Sinota Gaines and senior forward Ariana Seawell. The game kicked off with Buffalo putting the first points on the board with a layup from Cornfield after an assist from Watson leading into a 6-0 run. The Bulls held the lead until 4:48, when Troy took over 9-8 after a three. This marked Buffalo’s last lead until the fourth quarter. While Buffalo did their best to dominate offensively, taking more shots than Troy, the Trojans were blocking key shots and playing full court defense.
The second quarter gave Troy the chance to extend their lead further going into halftime. The Bulls redoubled their efforts on defense, but Troy was unphased. They hit contested 3 after contested three, leading them to their largest lead of the game, 44-30. Troy’s bench scoring was one of their most important assets during this game. At half, their second unit had contributed 15 points, with Buffalo’s 0 points in comparison. Though Watson, Beaty, and Lewis-Williams were able to drill down some shots to help even the score, Troy took a commanding 44-34 lead into the locker room.
Cornfield knocked down a three to put up Buffalo’s first points of the half, followed shortly by a layup from Beaty. Harness then scored a jumper quickly followed by a three to cut the Trojans lead to four. While the gap opened again, with the Trojans leading by 11 with 3:40 left, the Bulls used that as fuel. Lewis Williams went on to make an acrobatic layup, who then went on to perform a key block, giving Cornfield the rebound and assist to Harness for a fastbreak layup with 2:14 left in the quarter. The teams traded layups for the remainder of the time, leaving Buffalo in just a three point deficit going into the fourth quarter.
The Bulls took command of the game in the fourth quarter with key contributions from Harness, Cornfield and Watson, Buffalo was able to make the gap smaller.. With 3:25 left in the quarter, the Bulls were able to tie the game at 80 following an and-one from Lewis-Williams. The Trojans made a free throw fourteen seconds later to break the tie, but were quickly combated with yet another three from Harness to give the Bulls the lead.
With 29 seconds left, Brianna Jackson of the Troy Trojans committed her fifth foul and was removed from the game after scoring the Trojans ten points. This gave Lewis-Williams a free throw to bring Buffalo up by five points. The Trojans were then able to take advantage of free throws, making three with 18 seconds left to bring the score to a two point game. After two more fouls from Troy, the Bulls were able to pull ahead and secure an 88-84 win.
The game concluded a record-breaking season for UB women’s basketball, with a final record of 30-7.
Izabella Ducato is the assistant sports editor and can be reached at izabella.ducato@ubspectrum.com
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
