Bulls Upset Top-Seeded Central Michigan to Advance to MAC Title Game

CLEVELAND, OH – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team upset top-seeded Central Michigan, 82-77, to advance to the Mid-American Conference championships game for the second straight season. Cierra Dillard scored a game-high 30 points and Summer Hemphill tied a career-high with 24 points and nine rebounds to pace the Bulls.

"What a game, what a conference," head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. "They didn't make us the eighth best conference in the country because they thought we were cute. We've earned it. We go through so much, and to know that they're being poured into, for sure, but to pour back into me, to inspire me to continue on, I just love being in the locker room with those young ladies."

After a slow start for both teams, Central Michigan used a 5-0 run to take a 12-6 lead at the first media timeout but the Bulls offense responded with a 7-2 run, capped by a Dillard and one, to cut the lead to 14-13 after one.

Back-to-back three's by the Chippewas sparked a 8-2 run to put CMU up 22-15 at the 8:18 mark but the Bulls countered with a 10-2 run over the next three plus minutes to take their first lead of the game 25-24 at the 4:28 mark. A Dillard and-one put the Bulls up 28-25 with 2:35 to go in the first half but the Chippewas responded with a 4-0 run to take a 29-28 lead at the break.