UB women’s basketball (2-1) defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins (0-1) 87-45 at the Koessler Athletic Center at Canisius Sunday afternoon.
The Bulls had four players finish with double figures. Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 17 points while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing five assists. Junior forward Adebola Adeyeye scored 15 points and collected 9 rebounds, with sophomore center Elea Gaba adding 13 points of her own senior forward Summer Hemphill rounded out the Bulls’ double digit scorers, tacking on 11 points and grabbing six rebounds in her first game back in over a year.
Adeyeye got the Bulls offense going early as she connected on consecutive buckets to give her team a 4-0 lead. The momentum shifted as the teams exchanged baskets heading into the game’s first media timeout tied at 9. Hemphill would connect on consecutive jumpers to extend her team’s lead to 13-9 before UB closed out the first quarter on a 9-2 run.
UB carried their momentum into the second quarter as sophomore forward Loren Christie finished a layup off a feed from junior forward Keowa Walters. Adeyeye then converted on an offensive rebound to give her team a 25-14 advantage. Freshman guard Cheyenne McEvans would hit back to back baskets to extend her team’s lead heading into another media timeout. McEvans heated up later in the quarter as she put together her own 5-0 run to put UB ahead 39-20. Gaba closed out the half, hitting one of her two free throws to give the Bulls a demanding 40-22 lead.
It was a game of back and forth to begin the second half where senior guard Hanna Hall drained a three and followed by a Fair jumper to put UB up by 25. The Bulls’ offense continued to surge as they went on a 9-0 run capped off by sophomore guard Jessika Schiffer putting home a three off a feed from Fair. Fair closed out the quarter sinking both of her free throws to give the team a 34 point lead heading into the last quarter of play.
Buffalo’s strong offensive play continued into the fourth quarter as Gaba dominated scoring the first 12 points of the quarter extending her team’s lead to 81-40 with just over four minutes to play. Down the stretch the teams exchanged buckets but the Bulls’ defense stood tall as they kept the Griffins to five points for the remainder of the game.
The Bulls will head to West Lafayette, IN to take on the Purdue Boilermakers (1-1) Wednesday evening.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
