Bulls’ hot streak snapped by Arizona State, 76-57

Buffalo Women’s Basketball played a competitive game with Arizona State, but ultimately fell 76-57 on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Bulls began the game with solid defense and capitalized on crucial minutes offensively from both Cierra Dillard and Brittany Morrison. The duo gave Buffalo nine of their first eleven and kept the team’s deficit to the Sun Devils to just three points after the first quarter.

After a quarter of action ASU pulled away slightly, using a plethora of offensive boards and turnovers by UB to carve out a decent 42-32 halftime advantage.

UB began the second half with a much stronger effort, especially on defense. The Bulls moved from a 2-3 zone to a 3-2 look but their offense had trouble making up the gap.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, their offense continued to struggle throughout the second half and Arizona State began hitting their stride. This was even more so once Cassie Oursler and Summer Hemphill fouled out of the game, causing the wheels to come off quickly.

Dillard led the Bulls with 18 from the floor with the bulk of that scoring coming in the first half. Katherine Ups also had a solid day for UB. Along with consistent defensive pressure, she put 13 points on the scoreboard.

The Bulls finished the day on just 38% shooting and was heavily out-rebounded 47-25. They also had just seven assists on the night, their lowest total of the season and a strong indicator of how much Stephanie Reid — who’s out with a knee injury — means to this squad.

The loss is Buffalo’s first of the season, after stringing along four wins—two of which over Power-5 opponents. UB will hope to get back on track on Sunday with their second matchup of the ASU classic against UNLV. That game will tip-off at 2:00 p.m.