Women’s basketball (13-8) defeated the Miami (OH) RedHawks (3-16) 75-70 Wednesday night at Alumni Arena.
Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair led UB with a game-high 21 points and seven assists, even as she left the contest early in the third quarter after a hard collision with a defender. Fair had 10 points before limping off the court and returned with less than six minutes remaining in the third.
“[Fair is] tough, she’s playing for a story that she lived, and she lives,” head coach Felicia Legette-Jack said. “She has heart and she has toughness, you can go to a lot of battles with a kid like her.”
Freshman guard Cheyenne McEvans scored 20 points while also making an impact on the defensive end, where she snagged four steals and blocked three shots in 39 minutes. In her second game back from injury, senior forward Summer Hemphill provided a nice spark for the Bulls, as she recorded a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.
RedHawks sophomore guard Peyton Scott led her team with 16 points and eight assists. Freshman guard/forward Katie Davidson added 15 points of her own on an efficient 7-of-14 shooting. Senior forward Kelly McLaughlin posted 13 points and had six of the RedHawks’ 14 turnovers. Miami held one lead during the contest — a two-point advantage with one minute left in the second quarter.
The Bulls came out strong in the first quarter, scoring 17 points. But Legette-Jack’s team failed to keep the momentum going, scoring only 10 points in the following frame.
With 7:22 left in the third quarter, the Bulls went on a 14-3 run to take a 38-29 lead, their largest of the night. The Bulls added 20 points in the third quarter to take a 47-41 lead.
The RedHawks outscored the Bulls 29 to 28 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory. Miami was able to come within one point of UB with five minutes left, but the Bulls had enough offensive firepower to squeak out a ‘W.’
The Bulls plan to travel to Cleveland on March 10 for the MAC postseason tournament. After recording her 175th career win on Wednesday night,Legette-Jack says she believes Hemphill will be the X-factor for the Bulls.
“The more we play the better she will become. I think the better she becomes the better we are,” Legette-Jack said. “I’d like to see Dyaisha and Summer on the same floor together.”
UB will close out its regular season on the road Saturday in Bowling Green, OH against the BGSU Falcons. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is studying communications with the hopes of being a sideline reporter. In her spare time, she can be found in the gym, watching football or vibing to Mac Miller. Kayla is on Twitter @kaylasterner.
