Bulls Beat Canisius 71-55

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Senior guard Theresa Onwuka set a new-career high with 30 points as the University at Buffalo women's basketball team defeated Big 4 rival Canisius 71-55 at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night to start 3-0 for the fifth straight season.

Onwuka recorded a career-high for the third straight game with another efficient shooting performance as she went 11-for-14 from the floor, 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, while also pulling down nine rebounds and collecting three steals.

Freshman Dyaisha Fair continued to impress as she recorded her third straight 20+ point game with 24 points, three rebounds, four assists and a steal.

It was a slow start as neither team recorded a bucket for the first two plus minutes of play. Canisius took an early 4-0 lead but the Bulls responded with an 11-0 run to take an 11-4 lead at the first media timeout. The Bulls would continue the run out of the timeout as they extended the lead to 21-7 on an Onwuka transition layup and back-to-back threes by Fair and UB would take a 21-10 lead at the end of the first.

The Canisius offense came alive to start the second quarter as the Golden Griffins used a 12-5 run to cut the UB lead to 26-22 at the 4:56 mark. The Bulls would respond with a 7-0 run, led by four straight points by Onwuka and a Marissa Hamilton bucket, to go back up by double digits, 37-24, with 2:18 remaining in the half, but D'Jhai Patterson-Ricks and AJ Tibers would bury a pair of triples in the final minutes of the half to close on a 6-2 run and trim the UB lead to 39-30 at the break.

After another slow start to the third quarter for both teams, Canisius cut the UB lead to 47-37 at the 6:10 mark, but UB responded with 8-2 run on a pair of triples from Fair to go back up 55-39 at the media timeout. The Bulls would continue to get hot from deep as Fair knocked down a triple off the assist from Loren Christie and then two possessions later hit a three in transition to go up 55-39. Buffalo continued to turn defense into offense as a block from Hamilton turned into a transition bucket for Onwuka on the other end to give UB a 57-41 lead with 2:11 to go in the quarter. In total, UB outscored Canisius 22-13 in the third quarter to break the game open and take a 61-43 lead through three quarters of play.

Canisius used 7-3 run to start the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 64-50 and force a UB timeout with 6:17 to go. A couple possessions later, Onwuka knocked down a mid-range jumper to set her new career high and put the Bulls up 66-50 and that would be all they would need to secure the victory.

The Bulls shot 38.8% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc on the night. Buffalo outrebounded Canisius 47-34 and turned 22 Golden Griffins turnovers into 16 fastbreak points, while also outscoring the visitors 24-18 in the paint. The Bulls are now a perfect 41-0 over the last three seasons when holding opponents to 59 points or less.

The Bulls return to action on Friday, November 15, as they host Columbia at 7pm. Friday will also be the unveiling of the 2018-19 MAC Championship banner.