BUFFALO, N.Y. - Cierra Dillard is the nation's second-leading scorer, and the leader of a UB team that could return to the NCAA Tournament. She was the sparkplug of a group that strung together back-to-back upsets last March; despite that success, self-doubt nearly derailed her season a year ago.

"I was thinking about quitting," she says. "I was down. Every sports player in their career has that self-doubt. They had that 'am I good?'"

Before Dillard put up eye-popping numbers, she had to sit out a season after transferring from UMass. It took about half a season for Dillard to feel like she belonged.

"I was talking to my mom, and I'm like 'mom, I'm not gett ing it.' I still had to find my way and indentity within Buffalo," she says. "This was my first season back. It was also a new program, a new coach, a new team."

Once February rolled around, Dillard was finally comfortable with her role on the team. Over the next few weeks, Dillard was a big reason that UB reached their first NCAA Tournament and won their first tournament game.

"[The] NCAA tournament woke me up about how good I am, and how good if I put in the work, and put in the sacrifices and the dedication, how well I can play," she says.

Dillard played well enough to earn a challenge from her coach -- step up her play in her last season in Buffalo.

"She stepped up to the plate and understood that if I'm going to do that, I gotta get myself in shape," says Felisha Legette-Jack. "She made the decision to be the best version of herself."

A re-energized Dillard got to work after the season ended, and the pounds started melting away. Dillard estimates she lost between 35-40 pounds over the offseason, and her teammates noticed immediately.

"You don't see someone for a while, for a matter of weeks," says senior forward Courtney Wilkins. "You come back and you're like 'oh! Who is that? The new student? The new player?'"

Not a new player, but a new Dillard - five days a week of grueling workouts got the senior in the best shape of her life.

"From 11-4, I was in the gym," she says. "Running on the treadmill or playing basketball. At night, work on double-teams, work on pick-and-rolls."

Not only does Dillard look different from last year, she says she feels much better as games go on. She's always had the speed and strength to combat other D-I players, but her conditioning is night and day compared to last year. 

"People trying to squeeze me with doubles and screens. I have to be able to take all that. I think the summer I had helped me get through that," she says.

Dillard hopes her dramatic weight loss can show her teammates to never be complacent.

"You gotta put in hard work and dedication in. It follows through the summer, and you have to continue it throughout the season. I preach that. I tell them that. I show that. They can see, 'okay. She does what she says.'"