Several big performances pushes Bulls Women’s Basketball past Canisius 65-52. 8-0 start ties best in program history.

UB Women’s Basketball is now in uncharted waters with their win over Canisius tonight. With a mind blowing effort from JoAnna Smith, the Bulls would keep their perfect record on the season and move to 8-0. Defeating the Golden Griffins 65-52, the Bulls have now tied the best start in program history.

UB got out of the gate running in the first quarter with the help of JoAnna Smith, Stephanie Reid, and Summer Hemphill. Along with two three-pointers form Smith and a runner from Reid, Hemphill had her way with Canisius’ interior. It looked like it was going to be another traditional first quarter for UB as they were up 14-6 to start the night.

UB started committing turnovers from there and that’s when Canisius found their way back into the game, going on a mini-run of their own. Buffalo showed off their depth to hang onto their lead thanks to the help of two freshmen as Hemphill and Onwuka both brought some more points in for the Bulls.

Coming into the second quarter with a 20-13 advantage, Buffalo kept pushing the lead farther out. JoAnna Smith began to show that this would be the best game of the season thus far as she continued to rain from beyond the arc. Canisius couldn’t find an answer as Smith finished the half with an astounding 19 points. Going into the half, Buffalo had an impressive 37-23 lead.

With a sizable lead to cruise to a win with, Buffalo had the upper hand. The Bulls saw a strong start to the third quarter from Katherine Ups. After sending in a layup, she would also push through transition and draw a foul after getting a pass sent by Reid. Ups was also a vocal leader when she was on the floor, keeping defensive assignments in check.

Buffalo also continued to see impressive play from Reid as Canisius wouldn’t let go of this game. The junior did a great job at slowing and managing the game. With 15 seconds left in the quarter she dished a pass to Morrison to get her 280th career assist, putting her at 10 on UB’s all-time leaderboard.

When the fourth quarter came around, UB’s lead and their depth was just too much to overcome in the end. Although Canisius didn’t have too many troubles with getting shots to fall, the Bulls would answer right back.

JoAnna Smith’s commanding 23 points on the evening would lead the Bulls. Stephanie Reid would finish with one of the craziest stat lines of her ongoing UB career—finishing the night with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Talk about an all around effort. Finally, Summer Hemphill had her first career double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Buffalo will now go on a two week break for finals before they return to Alumni on December 21 to take on St. Bonaventure. That game will be televised on ESPN3 and will tip-off at noon.