Performance against UConn shows UB women are a top program

STORRS — A strong second-half effort by the women’s basketball team fell short in a 84-72 loss Sunday to perennial powerhouse University of Connecticut Huskies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But despite the results, the team’s performance continues to reinforce the message that the UB Bulls have a growing reputation as a top-level women’s basketball program.

“I don’t know what would have happened with five more minutes, but we kept getting better,” said coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “The beginning of the game was just so tough for us. We haven’t seen that kind of size, that kind of Hall of Fame, All-American status, and we had to really take that in and you can’t make it up in our practice because that is just a superior team there. But once we got comfortable and understood what we were faced with, we really, really, really did a tremendous job.”

Playing on the Huskies’ home court in front of 6,300 spirited fans, the Bulls got off to a slow start in the first half, and found themselves 24 points down in the third quarter. It was a dire situation, but Legette-Jack refused to let her team surrender. Led by senior Cierra Dillard’s game-high 29 points, the Bulls kept pounding away until they got within eight points with 1:10 to go in the game. But that was as close they would get as the Huskies held on for the victory.

Buffalo’s surge was enough to scare the Huskies and their fans, who haven’t experienced a home loss in 94 games. The 12-point margin of victory was the closest for the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion since Feb. 12, 2018, against Louisville.

“What a great, great team I have,” said Legette-Jack. “What fighters I have. What resiliency I was able to be a part of. This team was out. They punched us and they tried to knock us out. That’s what great teams do. But tough teams don’t let that punch define them. They keep coming back. They keep fighting.”

Since Legette-Jack’s arrival in the 2012-13 season, the women’s basketball program has soared to previously unimaginable heights. The team’s four-consecutive 20-or-more-win seasons are the reason why the Bulls have been in the NCAA Tournament three of the past four years — including the Sweet 16 round last year.

With seven freshmen on the roster, the team is believed to be one of the youngest squads in NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball. The knowledge that the young team members gleaned from the upperclassmen will prove to be invaluable as they look to carve out their own legacy.

“It think that now they’ve been on this stage (NCAA Tournament) that they now know it’s possible,” said senior Brittany Morrison. “It gives them the idea that never let anyone tell you that you can’t. Always believe. If you put in the work and you know that you put in the work, then you deserve to be there. I think this program can be something amazing and taken to a whole new level.”

Senior Courtney Wilkins believes the younger players learned a lot of lessons this year watching the Bulls fight their way to the NCAA Tournament.

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” said Wilkins. “It’s a process. It takes a lot of hard work to get where we’ve been. You have to believe that it’s possible to do. As long as they keep working hard, they are going to be OK.”