UB women advance to WNIT Great 8 with 76-64 at Southern Indiana
Chellia Watson scored a game-high 16 points to help the Bulls to a 76-64 win against Southern Indiana in a WNIT Super 16 game on Thursday in Evansville, Ind.
UB women's coach Becky Burke makes a point during last Sunday's game against UMass. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team is now among the Great 8.
Chellia Watson scored a game-high 16 points to help the Bulls to a 76-64 win against Southern Indiana in a WNIT Super 16 game on Thursday in Evansville, Indiana.
Now, the Bulls prepare to face a Big Ten team, to earn a spot among the WNIT’s final four teams.
The Bulls (27-7) will play Rutgers in a Great 8 game at 2 p.m. Sunday at Alumni Arena. The Scarlet Knights (13-19) defeated College of Charleston, 89-67, in a Super 16 game Thursday in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Jordyn Beaty added 13 points and three rebounds for the Bulls, and Noelani Cornfield added 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
This will only be the second meeting between the Bulls and Rutgers, and the second meeting between the two teams in the postseason. UB defeated Rutgers, 82-71, in a 2019 first-round NCAA Tournament game in Storrs, Conn.
How it happened at Southern Indiana
The Bulls took an early 9-2 lead against the Screaming Eagles, then increased their lead to 17-8 with less than three minutes left, as all seven of UB’s players had at least two points by the start of the second quarter.Southern Indiana (23-13) opened 6 for 14 from the floor but cut UB’s lead to 20-17 at the end of the first on Ali Saunders’ free throws.
The Bulls, though, maintained at least a five-point lead through much of the second, and expanded it to as many as 11, en route to a 41-25 halftime lead. Terah Harness scored nine of her 13 points in the first half, including three 3-pointers, and UB held Southern Indiana to 8-for-29 shooting in the first half, including 1 for 14 on 3-pointers.
Southern Indiana got within nine points late in the third, then the Bulls upped the lead to as many as 14 points in the fourth.
Triniti Ralston led Southern Indiana with 15 points, and was followed by Meredith Raley with 10 points.
What to watch for vs. Rutgers
Guards gonna guard: UB’s strength has been its outside play, both on offense and defense. Cornfield (Lake Shore), a graduate transfer from Southern Mississippi, followed a 12-point, 15-assist game against UMass by scoring in double figures for the fifth straight game, and added six rebounds. Harness brought support off the bench by scoring 13 points in 22 minutes, after playing only three minutes against UMass.Standing tall: Jordyn Beaty scored in double figures for the third consecutive game; the 6-foot forward and transfer from Texas A&M-Commerce scored 10 points in UB’s 56-49 loss to Toledo in a Mid-American Conference semifinal March 14, then finished with 14 points Sunday in an 84-82 overtime win against UMass.
From the Big Ten to the Great 8: Rutgers entered the WNIT at 11-19, after a first-round exit from the Big Ten Conference Tournament. The Scarlet Knights were 3-15 in the Big Ten, largely considered one of the most competitive conferences in the country, but topped Army in a first-round WNIT game, 71-60, then routed College of Charleston to reach the Great 8.
Deeper and deeper: Six Rutgers players scores in double figures against College of Charleston, including JoJo Lacey (19 points), Destiny Adams (18 points) and Mya Petticord (18 points). Adams finished with a triple-double Thursday, also collecting 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Top players
UBChellia Watson, fifth-year senior guard: 20.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 94 assists, 37 steals in 34 games.
Kirsten Lewis-Williams, sophomore guard: 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 100 assists, 77 rebounds, 11 blocked shots in 33 games.
Rutgers
Destiny Adams, senior guard/forward: 17.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 68 assists, 75 steals, 32 blocked shots in 32 games.
JoJo Lacey, graduate student forward: 9.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 56 assists, 55 steals in 32 games.