Bulls Earn Road Win over Toledo

Savage Arena at the University of Toledo has never been a friendly place for the UB Women’s Basketball team. The Bulls entered the game with a 1–12 record at Savage Arena, and had to overcome some self-inflicted adversity to come away with an 82–73 victory. Buffalo is now 11–5 and 8–3 in the MAC.

Although the Bulls only trailed briefly in this game, Buffalo had to overcome ice cold shooting by sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair, and a very depleted front line due to foul trouble and injuries.

The Bulls took the lead early, as they established their height advantage with 6–3 sophomore center Elea Gaba in the paint. Gaba scored easily against the Rockets, and Buffalo led by as much as 5 in the first quarter. Toledo would take a brief lead early in the second quarter, but a long scoring drought by Toledo after that helped the Bulls pull ahead by 5 at the end of the second quarter, and they never trailed again. Gaba and junior forward Ade Adeyeye both had to go to the bench with two fouls. Fair had only 4 points in the half.

In the third quarter, Buffalo would run their lead up to 14, as Gaba and Adeyeye contributed early, along with a strong performance from freshman guard Cheyenne McEvans. But again, both Gaba and Adeyeye left early, both with four fouls.

Toledo got hot from the three point line in the fourth quarter and closed to within three points at 1:15 left on a three pointer by Quinesha Lockett, which banked in off the glass. But then Buffalo responded as sophomore guard Jessika Schiffer hit her own three, and that was the end of the Toledo threat. In the quarter, Fair scored 18 of Buffalo’s 27 points — you might say it was Dyaisha Fair Time.

Fair finished with 29 points on 7-for-29 shooting, but she also made 14 of 15 free throws and added 7 rebounds and six assists. Gaba had her third strong performance in a row, finishing with 17 points on 8-for-15 shooting, and 9 rebounds. McEvans finished with 10 points and a career high (and team high) 10 rebounds. Junior forward Keowa Walters had 7 rebounds and 7 points. Junior center Zena Elias had 7 rebounds. Junior guard Jazmine Young had 7 points.

After the game, Buffalo coach Felisha Legette-Jack told ESPN that because of the foul trouble on the front line, she asked McEvans to step up her rebounding, and McEvans did. McEvans averaged over 10 rebounds a game during her senior year of high school.

Notes:

• Adeyeye again injured her shoulder, and had to leave the game.
• Buffalo’s next game is Saturday, February 13 at Northern Illinois at 2pm on ESPN3.