OXFORD, Ohio — Behind a pair of double-doubles from the freshman duo of Summer Hemphill and Theresa Onwuka, the University at Buffalo women?s basketball team (12-4, 2-3 MAC) snapped their three game losing streak on Saturday afternoon at Miami as they handed the RedHawks the 68-51 loss. Hemphill finished off her second career double-double with a career-high 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks while Onwuka closed out her second double-double in three games with a career-best 16 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes.
The Bulls completely dominated the glass on Saturday afternoon as they outrebounded the RedHawks, 60-28. The 60 rebounds are the most in a game since November, 11, 2014 when UB grabbed 69 against St. Francis (PA). Buffalo was all over the offensive glass as they snagged a season-best 26 offensive rebounds and turned those into 22 second chance points.
The turning point in the game came in the third quarter as the Bulls defense picked up their play and helped spark UB’s offense. The Bulls closed out the final 7:43 of the third quarter on a 25-7 run as they took over the lead and never looked back, holding the 56-44 edge through 30 minutes.
The two teams started out the game slow as the RedHawks took the 3-0 edge before JoAnna Smith gave UB their first bucket of the game more than two minutes in. After Miami took the 5-2 edge, UB was able to go on a 8-0 run as Summer Hemphill made a jumper, Mariah Suchan connected on a hook shot and Theresa Onwuka hit a jumper and layup, giving UB the 10-5 lead. Miami countered with a 6-0 run of tyheir own to take the 11-10 edge before Katherine Ups made a pair of free throws to give the Bulls the 12-11 lead after 10 minutes of action.
UB started off the second quarter strong as Onwuka opened the scoring with a pretty layup to give the Bulls the 14-11 edge. A Miami layup just over a minute later cut the UB lead to two, 19-17 before Onwuka netted four straight points to extend the lead out for UB. A transition three pointer by Smith gave UB their biggest lead of the second, 27-21, but the RedHawks were able to finish the half on a 9-2 run to take the 30-29 lead into the locker room.
After falling behind 37-31 just over two minutes into the third, the Bulls decided to turn up the pressure and took over the game. Buffalo was able to go on an 18-1 spurt to retake the lead and never look back as Hemphill netted 10 of the Bulls 18 points as she used her athleticism to net multiple fast break buckets. The RedHawks ended the run with four straight points before Smith and Suchan drilled jumpers and Wilkins netted a triple, giving UB the 56-44 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Buffalo defense was able to put the game away in the final quarter as they held the RedHawks to just seven points on 3-for-12 shooting over the final 10 minutes. After the two sides exchanged buckets in the fourth, Onwuka took over the scoring load as she made three consecutive shots to make the score 65-49. A Brittany Morrison free throw with 51 seconds left gave UB their biggest lead of the game and closed out the scoring as the Bulls earned the 68-51 road victory.
Smith led the Bulls offensively as she went over 20 points for the fourth time this season, finishing 8-for-18 from the floor with 22 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Smith has now connected on at least one three pointer in 50 of her last 52 games as she led UB in scoring for the eighth time this season.
Hemphill and Onwuka each netted their second career double-doubles as they each made their third straight starts.Hemphill showed her elite athleticism throughout the game as she was able to score 10 points and eight rebounds in the second half while also notching a career-high three rejections in the win. Onwuka had 10 of her career-best 16 points in the first half while also snagging five offensive rebounds. Onwuka has now gathered 12 offensive rebounds over the last two games for UB.
Mariah Suchan had a solid game off the bench for the Bulls as she was able to score four points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of action while playing strong defensively. Reid closed out her quiet offensive game with just two points but added five assists and five rebounds. Courtney Wilkins finished off her afternoon with three points and five rebounds in the win.
For the game, the Bulls were able to outshoot the RedHawks 38.8% to 31.7%. With the win, UB improved to 10-0 this season and 27-1 over the past two seasons when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opponents. The Bulls also held the 32-20 edge in scoring inside the paint while holding the dominant 22-6 lead in second chance points. Buffalo also improved to 11-2 this season when winning the fast break scoring category as UB held the 9-4 edge and have outscored opponents 137-47 in fast break scoring this season.
Buffalo will stay on the road for their next MAC game as they head to Bowling Green to take on the Falcons on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm. Wednesday night’s game will air live on ESPN3 as well as on the radio on ESPN1520 with Matt Mattia starting at 6:30 pm.
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