CLEVELAND (AP) — Dyaisha Fair and freshman Georgia Woolley combined for 59 points and second-seeded Buffalo beat No. 5 seed Ball State 79-75 on Saturday in the championship game of the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Fair, the fourth-leading scorer in Division I with an average of 23.2, was 9 of 21 from the field for 30 points and Woolley only missed six of her 17 shots for 29 points. Fair, the tournament MVP, also controlled the game with her ball control, dishing out six helpers with just two turnovers despite being the focus of the Ball State defense.
After three straight Buffalo turnovers allowed Ball State to get within 73-71, Fair dribbled the clock down and escaped a double team to find Woolley for a jumper at the free-throw line for a four-point lead with 32.9 seconds left. Freshman Ally Becki made two free throws for Ball State for a two-point deficit with 30 seconds left, but Woolley answered with two free throws at 26.9 and two more at 13.7 to seal it.
Buffalo (25-8) brings a nine-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, including a 39-point victory over Akron in the semifinals behind 28 points from Fair and 20 by Woolley. The Bulls' resume also including playing then-No. 1 South Carolina, Oklahoma and Syracuse on consecutive days in November, with the lone win coming against the Orange.
Fair entered needing 16 points to become Buffalo’s all-time scoring leader and she broke Kourtney Brown’s record with 5:15 left in the first half on a layup to reach 17 points in the half. She became the first player in Buffalo history to reach 2,000 career points in the second half — and she’s only a junior.
Thelma Dis Agustsdottir and Becki each scored 20 points for Ball State (20-12). Dis Agustsdottir was 6 of 15 from 3-point range and Becki also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
___
More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
