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UB's season ends in 1st round of NCAA Women's Tournament with 80-67 loss to Tennessee

UB women Tennessee
Posted at 5:12 PM, Mar 19, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-19 17:12:23-04

KNOXVILLE, TN (WKBW) — A hard-fought effort came up short as the UB women's basketball season has come to an end in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulls, the no. 13 seed in the Wichita region, fell to no. 4 Tennessee 80-67 on Saturday afternoon. The game was played in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

Game recap:

Tennessee jumped out to an early 8-0 lead after UB, who had plenty of open looks, couldn't get anything to drop. The Bulls got their first basket of the game at the 6:23 mark thanks to a Dyaisha Fair three-pointer, and wound up going on a 7-0 run of their own to make it a one-point game with less than five minutes to go in the quarter. The two teams stayed evenly matched for the remaining of the quarter with the Bulls taking their first lead of the game as time expired with a Georgia Woolley three-pointer to make it 17-15 in favor of the Bulls after ten minutes of play.

The Bulls jumped out to their largest lead of the game in the first minute of the 2nd quarter, holding a 20-15 advantage, until Tennessee went on another 8-0 run to jump back out in front. From there, the two teams traded baskets for the reminder of the quarter with four more lead changes, and Tennessee holding a 32-30 advantage at the half.

The 3rd quarter began with UB tying things up at 32-32 and again at 34-34 before the Vols went on an 8-3 run. UB, though, didn't back down, once again tying things up at 42-42 with less than five minutes to go in the quarter. A 9-4 run put the Vols back on top by a couple possessions with 2:38 left in the quarter, and held a 57-51 advantage through thirty minutes of play.

The 4th quarter remained tight for the first two minutes until the Lady Vols hit a couple of big shots, taking their then-largest lead of the game [13] with a little more than seven minutes remaining. They continued to maintain that double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

By the numbers:

Junior Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 25 points and seven assists. Freshman Georgia Woolley added 15 points and dominated defensively, recording seven steals.

The Bulls, who entered the game 22nd in the nation in rebounding, lost the board battle 55-38. Summer Hemphill led the Bulls in rebounding with 10. While the Bulls couldn't out-rebound the Vols, they did take advantage in transition with 21 of their 61 points on the fastbreak.

What's next:

The Bulls finish the season with a 25-9 record, making the program's 4th NCAA Tournament appearance. They'll graduate Hemphill and Adebola Adeyeye, but will return a young and talented roster including Fair, Woolley, and Cheyenne McEvans [a 2020-21 starter who missed the majority of the season with an injury].