Camp Ties Assist Record in First Career Start

Making her first career start, Buffalo’s junior guard Dominique Camp tied the school record with 16 assists, nearly had 18 assists, and the Bulls defeated Central Michigan 92–75 in the MAC opener. Buffalo is now 7–4 on the season and 1–0 in the MAC.

Camp, a transfer from Troy University, is in her first season with the Bulls. She had been a part-time point guard for the Bulls so far this year, picking up 9 assists against Canisius and 6 against Niagara, and also the key in-bounds pass against VCU with 2 seconds left that led to freshman guard Georgia Woolley’s buzzer beater.

Buffalo’s usual starting guard, senior Jazmine Young, according to coach Felisha Legette-Jack on the pregame radio show, had left the team for personal reasons. It was not known if Young will return. Another possible point guard, sophomore Cheyenne McEvans, was playing with an injured ankle, and didn’t get the start. That left the position open for Camp, who made a very strong case to keep the starting position.

Under Camp, who played 36 minutes, the Bulls shot 48% and racked up 92 points, a strong offensive performance by any standards. The 92 points was the most against a non-Western NY opponent. Camp picked up her 15th assist and earned Play of the Game™ co-honors when she stole the ball and sprinted downcourt, two-on-one, finishing with a behind the back bounce pass to super-senior forward Summer Hemphill for an easy layup. You can see this play in the highlights at about 19 seconds.

But Camp wasn’t done. On the very next CMU possession, Camp picked up the other Play of the Game™ co-honors for her 16th assist. Another steal by Camp was followed by a long bounce pass to junior guard Dyaisha Fair on the fast break, just in front of the CMU defender, and Fair laid the ball in.

Two more chances for assists did not materialize for Camp, as twice she fed Woolley, who missed three pointers.

Buffalo led nearly the entire game, breaking open a close game in the 2nd quarter with an 11–0 run. The Bulls would lead by 13 at halftime, and then in the third quarter, CMU went on a 9–0 run to cut the lead to just three. But then Fair was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free-throws. After a CMU free-throw, Fair hit two more free-throws and the Bulls closed the third quarter with a six point lead.

In the fourth quarter, Hemphill took over, scoring 10 points in the quarter, and Buffalo easily left CMU in the rear view mirror. For the entire game, Hemphill tied her career high with 28 points shooting 11-for-18 overall, and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. She also had 7 rebounds.

Fair scored 26 points, on 7-for-12 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three point range, and 10-for-13 from the free throw line. Woolley had 14 points and senior forward Ade Adeyeye had 10. Junior forward Loren Christie had 8 points. Adeyeye had 6 rebounds.

Buffalo next plays at Miami (OH) at 1pm on Saturday, January 1, 2022 (ESPN3).

Notes:

• The record of 16 assists in one game is jointly held by Stephanie Reid in 2017 and Ashley Zuber in 2011.
• Unlike some recent games, Buffalo was sharp from the free-throw line, shooting 20-for-25.
• Buffalo only committed 11 turnovers, while CMU committed 27 (although I think the referees called way too many traveling calls on CMU).
• Freshman guard Nia Jordan missed the game due to COVID protocols, leaving the Bulls with only 10 players available, and only 8 actually saw playing time. CMU had only 9 players available, including 5 freshman.
• Fair leads the MAC in scoring, while Hemphill is 11th. Hemphill is 6th in the MAC in rebounding and she is also 6th in the MAC in three-point shooting percentage. Christie is 4th in blocked shots. Fair is 2nd in minutes played and Hemphill is 3rd.
• Former Bull Cierra Dillard was named Player of the Week in the Turkish League after scoring 38 points in a recent game.