UB women’s basketball (14-11) defeated Bowling Green (8-18) 62-56 at the Stroh Center Saturday afternoon.
The win ended the Bulls’ six-game losing streak and pushed them back into ninth place in the MAC standings.
The Bulls’ defense was particularly stout on Saturday afternoon as sophomore guard Aireal Dickson sealed the game with multiple late-game steals. UB has now held opponents to 59 points or less 10 times this season, going 10-0 in those games.
On the other side of the ball, freshman guard Dyaisha Fair led the team with 21 points. Senior guard Theresa Onwuka had another stellar game, finishing with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
Bowling Green was red hot from beyond the arc in the first quarter, going 3-5 to take an early 11-2 lead and force a UB timeout. The Falcons, after a quick breather, extended their lead to 17-2. Finally, after a four-minute scoring drought, Onwuka hit a jumper to start a 10-2 run that would eventually cut the lead to 19-12 after the first frame.
The Falcons extended their lead to 10 early in the second quarter before junior guard Hanna Hall drained a triple from the corner to cut the lead to 24-17. Fair went on a 7-0 run by herself, capped by a transition three to pull the Bulls to within one and force a Bowling Green timeout.
The Bulls came up with a big defensive stop at the one-minute mark of the second quarter and Dickson converted on a pull-up jumper on the other end to tie the game at 29.
In the second half, the Bulls earned back-to-back buckets from Onwuka and sophomore forward Adebola Adeyeye to take a 33-29 lead, their first of the game. With just under a minute to play, the Bulls went on a 6-2 run to go up 46-42. The Falcons closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 47-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
Buffalo would open up the final frame on a 6-2 run, thanks to a pair of Onwuka pull-up jumpers. Onwuka continued to stay aggressive as she got a bucket through contact to put UB up 54-52 with just over five minutes to play.
With only 19 seconds to go and the Bulls up two, Dickson came up with a crucial steal and Fair laid it in to put UB up 60-56. That would be all the Bulls would need to secure the victory.
The Bulls will return home to take on Miami (OH) (11-15) in their Pink Day Game at Alumni Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
