Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Sisi Eleko Dribbles the basketball against Buffalo on Nov. 6, 2023
Max Sacco
60
Canisius Canis 0-1,0-0 MAAC
69
Winner Buffalo UB 1-0,0-0 MAC
Canisius Canis
0-1,0-0 MAAC
60
Final
69
Buffalo UB
1-0,0-0 MAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Canisius Canis 14 18 16 12 60
Buffalo UB 16 10 20 23 69

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Buffalo Uses Fourth-Quarter Surge to Defeat Women's Basketball

Buffalo outscored Canisius, 23-12, in the fourth quarter to rally from a two-point deficit and post a 69-60 victory in collegiate women's basketball action Monday at Alumni Arena in Amherst, N.Y.

In the season-opening contest for both teams, Chella Watson paced the Bulls with a game-high 21 points and team-best six assists while her teammate, Hattie Ogden, collected a team-high eight rebounds and registered three blocks. Kirsten Lewis-Williams and Rana Elhusseini would add in 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the hosts.
 
Leading the way for Canisius was sophomore forward Sisi Eleko, who totaled her fourth career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Senior guard Mackenzie Amalia led the Blue and Gold with 16 points and dished out a career-best eight assists. Sophomore guard/forward Brooklyn Thrash scored 12 points of her own, going 5-of-9 from the field.

In a tightly-contested matchup that featured a total of 11 ties and six lead changes, the teams would find themselves deadlocked, 52-52, with 7:12 remaining in the fourth quarter before an Elhusseini layup ignited a 9-0 spurt that gave Buffalo a 61-52 lead with 4:10 to play.
 
Canisius would strike back, rattling off five unanswered points of its own over the next 52 seconds to draw within four, 61-57, with 3:14 remaining. A technical foul on Eleko would send the Bulls to the line, where Elhusseini would give the hosts some breathing room, nailing both free throws to build a 63-57 cushion whille a Watson 3-pointer less than a minute later would expand the Buffalo edge to nine, 66-57, with 2:28 to play.
 
Canisius would make it a two-possession game on its next trip down the floor, but that would be as close as it would get, as Elhusseini converted three of her four attempts from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal the Bulls nine-point victory. 
 
Earlier in the contest, Canisius would find itself down two, 16-14, after a first quarter which saw both sides begin the contest shooting less than 40 percent from the floor.
 
After falling down five early in the second quarter, the Griff offense would go on an 11-5 swing, sparked by a 3-pointer from Amalia, a 2:59 stretch to take a 25-24 lead with 5:28 left.   
The Griffs continued their hot shooting, ending the frame on a 7-2 run to enter the half ahead, 32-26. During that spurt, Amalia would account for five of the Griffs seven points.
 
The Canisius offense continued to hum after the break, notching nine of the first 12 points scored in the third quarter to open up its largest lead of the game, 41-29.
 
Buffalo would flip the game to its favor moments later, outscoring Canisius, 17-7, over the remainder of the third to enter the fourth quarter down two, 48-46, and set the stage for their late-game comeback.
 
POSTGAME COMMENTS
GAME NOTES
• Monday's game marked the fourth consecutive season that Canisius opened its season against Buffalo. The Griffs are now 1-3 against Buffalo in their last four games against their crosstown rival.
• Amalia and graduate students Grace Heeps and Bri Rozzi all made their Canisius debuts on Monday.
• Canisius shot just 8-of-27 (.296) from beyond the arc compared to 6-of-16 (.375) for Buffalo.
• Buffalo was 15-of-22 (.682) from the charity stripe, compared to 10-of-18 (.556) for Canisius.
• UB converted 18 Canisius turnovers into 21 points while the Griffs turned 15 Bulls miscues into just five points. 
• Thrash made her first appearance in the starting line since Jan. 21, 2023 against Manhattan.
• With her start today, Eleko has now started in 21 consecutive contests dating back to Dec. 17, 2022 against Rider.
• Heeps finished with four steals on Monday, tying her career-high, which she set on Nov. 16, 2021 against Merrimack while at UAlbany.
• Canisius still leads the all-time series against Buffalo, 29-18, and leads the series on the road, 15-10.

SUPPORT THE GRIFFS
Support the Canisius women's basketball team in conjunction with the "More Than A Game" campaign. Your donation to the women's basketball program helps our student-athletes continue to be champions in the community, in the classroom and in competition. To donate, CLICK HERE.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius returns to the Koessler Athletic Center for its first home game of the year against Saint Francis (Pa.) for Family Day. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., with the game airing on ESPN+.

Like Canisius Athletics on Facebook
Follow @GoGriffs and @GriffsWBB on X (formally known as Twitter)
Follow @GoGriffs and @GriffsWBB  on Instagram
Print Friendly Version