UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO ATHLETICS


BUFFALO —  The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team (8-3, 0-0 MAC) completed the sweep over Big-4 competition this season with a 90-43 rout over the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure, successfully closing out the non-conference portion of their schedule with an 8-3 record.

The Bulls were once again led by senior Cierra Dillard who finished with 26 points, six assists and two steals on the afternoon while shooting an impressive 9-of-13 from the floor while connecting on a season-high five three pointers, going 5-of-8 on the day.

Sophomore point guard Hanna Hall also impressed for the Bulls, putting up 11 points while shooting 3-of-5 from three point range. Hall has now connected on three 3-PT field goals in each of the last two contests.

Junior Summer Hemphill continued to impress since her return to the court this season, as she netted 13 points while adding six rebounds, two steals and an assist to her stat line. Additionally, Hemphill tied a career-best in blocks with 4.

The Bulls scored the first basket of the day just 15 seconds into the game from a Dillard three and the Bulls would never look back. As a team, Buffalo connected on 56.3% of their shots in the first quarter, going 9-of-16 from the floor and jumping out to a 25-7 lead after just one quarter of play.

The momentum would carry into the second quarter for the Bulls as a 14-0 run for Buffalo propelled them out to a 39-13 lead with just 3:50 left to play in the half. Dillard finished her first half of work shooting the ball at a 70% clip, going 7-of-10 and eclipsing the 20 point marker in just one half of work. Dillard has now lead the team in scoring in each contest this season while going over the 20 point threshold in every game.

Buffalo went into the half with a 30 point, 47-17 lead, and their largest halftime lead of the season.

Out of the half, back-to-back three point field goals from Hall shot the Bulls out to a 58-18 lead. The third quarter would end 75-29 in favor of the Bulls with the team shooting the ball at a rate of 64.7% while outscoring the Bonnies 28-12 in the half.

The game would end with a final score of 90-43, marking the most points scored by the Bulls all season after putting up 88 points against St. Bonaventure.

The Bulls will now enjoy a week off from action before they remain home on Saturday, January 5th at 2:00 p.m. to square off against MAC foe Ohio to open up Mid-American conference play.