Graduate forward Summer Hemphill bagged her fourth consecutive double-double to lead the Bulls (22-8, 16-4 MAC) to their sixth-straight win Saturday afternoon.
Hemphill, a Buffalo native, tallied 18 points, 12 boards, four assists and one steal in an 81-62 win over Bowling Green (15-14, 10-10 MAC) in UB’s Senior Day at Alumni Arena.
With the victory, UB tied a program record with 14 home wins and matched the 2018 team — which made it all the way to the Sweet 16 — for most MAC wins in a season.
The Bulls mustered a balanced scoring attack as four players finished in double figures. Freshman guard Georgia Woolley led all scorers with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Junior forward Loren Christie had 12 points and snagged six rebounds. Senior forward Adeyeye Adebola finished just shy of a double-double with 13 points, eight boards and four steals.
Senior guard Jazmine Young produced nine points and dished out three assists. Junior guard Dyaisha Fair — the nation’s fourth-leading scorer, at 23.1 points per game — had an unusually quiet night, as she finished with two points, two assists and five rebounds.
The Bulls eagerly jumped out of the gate on a 10-0 run. The Falcons responded with a 9-3 run of their own to cut the deficit to three with 4:34 to go in the first. A series of layups and jumpers gave the Bulls a 19-13 lead with 1:06 left, which became a 22-17 advantage at the end of the quarter as junior guard Dominique Camp banked a three at the buzzer.
Bowling Green went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to tie the game at 29 apiece with 4:25 left until the break. A steal from Camp sparked a 6-0 run to give the Bulls a 35-29 advantage with 2:39 remaining. Back-to-back BGSU triples tied the game at 35 heading into halftime.
The Bulls silenced the Falcons’ offense to go on an 11-0 run to clutch a 46-35 lead with 5:02 remaining in the third quarter. Bowling Green mustered a layup and a free throw before Buffalo’s defense overruled them and the offense attacked to go on a 7-0 run with 2:38 to play. UB held a 17-point advantage (63-46) heading into the final quarter thanks to three consecutive points from Hemphill.
The Bulls’ strong defense limited the Falcons to 16 points in the fourth quarter. UB clutched a 23-point advantage with 2:06 remaining and finished with a 19-point victory.
The Bulls netted 22 second-chance points from 20 offensive rebounds and turned 21 BGSU miscues into 24 points. The Bulls were hot in the paint, bucketing 44 points, including 15 fastbreak points. UB was 29-of-65 from the field (44.6%) and struggled with three-pointers, making only 2-of-13. Buffalo out-rebounded the Falcons 47-30.
The Bulls have scored at least 80 points in four of their last five games, extending their record to a spotless 12-0 when they reach that threshold.
UB will travel to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Bulls will face No. 7 Western Michigan in the quarterfinal round Wednesday. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at kayla.sterner@ubspectrum.com
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is studying communications with the hopes of being a sideline reporter. In her spare time, she can be found in the gym, watching football or vibing to Mac Miller. Kayla is on Twitter @kaylasterner.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
