BUFFALO, NY - Senior guard Cierra Dillard surpassed the 1,000 point mark in her Buffalo career and three Bulls scored in double figures to help lead UB to a 93-64 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Bulls improve to 14-4 on the year, 6-1 in conference play.
Dillard became the fastest player in UB history to get to 1,000 career points, doing so in just 53 games. She is Buffalo's 25th 1,000 point scorer and one of only four to reach that milestone in less than 100 games. The Rochester, NY native finished with a double-double, recording 26 points and a career-high 11 assists, while adding five rebounds. Dillard now has 1,017 points in a UB uniform, moving her into 23rd place on the all-time scoring list.
"Cierra is a special player, special person, high character kid, stands for high academics and she can play this game a little bit," head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. "I just thought we had a great team effort today."
Also scoring in double figures on the afternoon were Summer Hemphill who had her fifth double-double in the last seven games with 18 points and 14 rebounds and Hanna Hall who scored 17 points while adding seven assists, four rebounds and a steal.
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the game with the teams knotted 8-8 at the media timeout but the Bulls used an 8-2 run to end the quarter and take a 16-10 lead after two.
The Huskies would come out hot to start the second, opening the quarter on a 10-0 run but UB clawed back. A three by Courtney Wilkins put Buffalo back up four and a fast break layup by Autumn Jones extended the lead to eight. Dillard's 1,000 point shot came on a three pointer off the assist by Hanna Hall to cap an 18-4 run to close the half and give the Bulls a 37-24 lead at the break.
The Buffalo offense was red hot in the second half as UB scored a season-high 56 points after the break. Buffalo shot a blistering 56.4% (12-39) from the floor and 55.5% (5-9) from behind the arc in the second half. The 93 total points was also a season-high for the UB.
The Bulls once again won the battle of the boards, setting a season-high with total 53 rebounds, 20 on the offensive glass. Buffalo also scored 22 points off of 16 Huskies' turnovers and scored 22 points in transition.
Buffalo begins a two-game road trip at Ball State on Wednesday, January 30, at 7 p.m. The Bulls took the first meeting with Cardinals, 77-65, at Alumni Arena on January 16.