UB Women’s Basketball defeats Cleveland State to advance to WNIT finals

While UB’s women’s basketball team didn’t make it into March Madness, despite a dominant 25-6 regular season, they did land in women’s basketball’s second-biggest bracket, the 48-team Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Bulls stormed through the early rounds, with a first-round bye, an 84-82 overtime win over UMass (the highest-scoring game of the tournament), and a 76-64 road win in Southern Indiana.

On Sunday night, the Bulls beat Rutgers in New Jersey, coming back from an early 10-point deficit thanks to 28 points from Chelia Watson, 19 from Kirsten Lewis-Williams, and 7 assists and 6 rebounds from Noelani Cornfield. And on Wednesday, at home in Alumni Arena, they defeated the Cleveland State Vikings, 74-69, to advance to the Finals. Watson again led the team with 21 points, with 15 from Cornfield and 14 from Lewis-Williams.

UB now faces Troy in the WNIT Finals, 5pm this Saturday at Alumni Arena.