Hemphill grabs 1,000th rebound in blow-out win

Sixth year forward Summer Hemphill became just the second player in UB Women’s Basketball history to pull down 1,000 rebounds, and also the second player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. It wasn’t the way you might picture an historic rebound. Late in the second quarter, Hemphill and an opponent both jumped for the rebound, both grabbed the ball simultaneously and a jump ball was called. Because the possession arrow pointed in Buffalo’s favor, it is officially a rebound for Hemphill, her 1,000th. Only Kourtney Brown has more rebounds than Hemphill, and Brown is the only other UB Player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Buffalo’s 93–68 win over Eastern Michigan, the Bulls’ fifth win in a row, left a lot of people smiling for a lot of reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason to smile was that Buffalo’s depth has suddenly swelled. The Bulls played most of the last few weeks using only six players getting significant minutes, leaving the team vulnerable to fatigue and foul trouble. But with players recovering from injury or returning to the team after a personal absence, Buffalo used 11 players in the game. Major sigh of relief.

Another big smile came from the play of junior guard Dyaisha Fair, who picked up 38 points, shooting 13-for-21 including 5-for-6 from beyond the arc, and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Fair had a highlight reel play at the end of the first quarter, as the Bulls got the ball with 4 seconds left and then Fair raced up-court and launched a 40 foot shot that went in. And did that bring out a huge grin from Fair — no, she was locked in, not a trace of a smile from Fair.

Freshman guard Georgia Woolley continues to impress. She picked up 21 points plus 7 rebounds and 6 steals. It was Wolley’s fifth 20 point game in her last six appearances. Junior guard Dominique Camp has been very aggressive offensively in the last few games, and she made all four of her three point attempts, having made just four three pointers previously this season, and she finished with a career high 16 points and also 6 assists. Hemphill had 14 rebounds and five assists. Freshman forward Saniaa Wilson had six rebounds. Are you smiling yet?

Junior center Elea Gaba made her season debut and played 11 minutes scoring 4 points. Senior guard Jazmine Young, who was away from the team for personal reasons, returned to the court for the first time since December 20, 2021, and scored 4 points in 9 minutes. Sophomore guard Casey Valenti-Paea also made her season debut after an injury. And senior forward Ade Adeyeye returned to uniform after a recent injury and warmed up with the team but did not appear in the game. Suddenly, that’s a very strong bench, as the Bulls look forward to the MAC Tournament in a few weeks.

The Bulls are now 16-7 on the year and 10-3 in the MAC, still in second place behind Toledo. They next play at Northern Illinois on February 12, 2022 at 2:00 PM (ESPN3).

Notes:

• For the first time since 2018, Buffalo had two Australians on the court at the same time (Valenti-Paea and Woolley). Valenti-Paea picked up an Aussie to Aussie assist, something that used to be very common for the Bulls.
• Brown remains the only player in UB History to win MAC Player of the Year, which she did in 2011. She twice won MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
• The Bulls were 11-for-18 on three-point attempts, and shot 50% overall.