Monday, Dec. 17
Highlights
UCF 64, Pacific 57
Despite falling behind early, the UCF women’s basketball team remained calm and rallied for a 64-57 win over Pacific in CFE Arena on Monday evening.
UCF (9-1) and Pacific (6-2) both entered the game on five-game win streaks, but the Knights were the squad that was able to extend its streak to six.
The Tigers jumped out to an early seven-point advantage, 9-2, and held a 19-13 edge after the first 10 minutes of play. The Knights responded in the second frame, outscoring the Tigers 17-8 to take a 30-27 edge into halftime.
UCF continued to push out of the locker room, going up by as many as 13 points, 49-36, with 55 seconds left in the third quarter. The Black and Gold withstood a late push from Pacific and relied on clutch free throws down the stretch from Kay Kay Wright to clinch the home victory.
For the third consecutive game, Kay Kay Wright reached the 20-point mark. She sank a career-best 16 free throws en route to 27 points and dished out four assists in 36 minutes of action. Wright has finished in double figures in all 10 of UCF’s games this season. The Orlando native set a UCF single game record and tied an American Athletic Conference single game record with her 16 foul shots.
Wright has now tallied three consecutive 20-point games this season and bumped her season average to 20.4 points per game.
Sydnee McDonald added 10 points and collected a pair of steals. Three Knights grabbed six rebounds each – Tolulope Omokore, Fifi Ndour and Kayla Thigpen. Thigpen matched Wright’s four assists and Omokore tied McDonald with two steals.
UCF extended its win streak to six games – its longest streak since the 2016-17 campaign. The Knights improved to 4-0 in CFE Arena and closed out the home portion of the non-conference slate undefeated on their home floor. The Black and Gold’s 9-1 record officially matches the best start to a season as a Division I program. The 1984-85 squad also started 9-1.
USF 102, Vermont 55
USF women's basketball had its best offensive performance of the season thus far when USF won its fifth straight game it defeated Vermont and hit the century mark 102-55 on Monday night.
USF (receiving votes) was powered by five Bulls scoring in double figures, including three scorers over 20, to improve to 9-2 on the season. The Bulls finished their nonconference home slate with a perfect 7-0 record at the Yuengling Center.
On an unstoppable shooting night, USF shot 60.0 percent from beyond the arc, burying 12-of-20 treys. Combined with a 38-of-67 clip from the field, USF had a 56.7 shooting efficiency from the field as a team – a season high for USF and its third time shooting 50 percent or better.
Senior Laura Ferreira led all scorers with 22 points, but Alyssa Rader and Sydni Harvey each had a career high in scoring, earning 21 and 20 points respectively, to push three Bulls over 20 points. Rader had a season high three field goals from beyond the arc and added four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal on the night. Harvey added two rebounds and a game-high, career-high six assists on the night.
USF got out to a hot start and overpowered the Catamounts to a 28-7 advantage after the first period, a season-high point total in the first quarter for the Bulls. Rader had already scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes. Vermont (4-6) leveled the play in the second half, and scored 19 points to USF's 21, but the first-quarter deficit was too great for the Catamounts to surmount. USF took a comfortable 49-26 lead into the locker room behind three scorers in double figures by the break. Notably, USF commited zero fouls in the first half.
Little Rock 63, Tulsa 53
Little Rock (3-6) pulled away in the third quarter and went on for a 63-53 victory against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-6) Monday night in front of a crowd of 863 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Crystal Polk led the Hurricane with 14 points, while freshman Desiree Lewis had her first career double-digit scoring game with 12 points and Morgan Brady chipped in 10 points. Polk and Lewis shared the team-lead with six rebounds apiece.
The Trojans outscored the Hurricane 34-24 in the second 20 minutes after the two teams went into halftime tied at 29. Little Rock outdistanced Tulsa in the third quarter 23-11 to take a 52-40 lead at the end of the period.
Tulsa began the third period with a Lewis 3-point play for a 32-29 lead, but the Trojans took the lead for good 33-32 at the 8:19 mark on a Ronjanae DeGray layup. Polk's jumper cut Tulsa's deficit to one point at 37-36 with 5:23 left in the period, but Little Rock closed out the third quarter on a 13-4 run for the 12-point lead.
In the fourth stanza, Little Rock led by as many as 18 points with 8:40 remaining before settling for the 10-point victory.
Memphis 69, Southeast Missouri 57
The Memphis women's basketball team captured a double-digit win on Teddy Bear Toss Night to overcome the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks by a 69-57 margin. The victory improves the Tigers to 4-6 on the year.
The Tigers were paced by Alana Davis' career-highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Davis tallied her fifth double-double of the season, and the ninth of her career. Memphis used big runs in the second half to take and build a lead it would never relinquish.
After a slow start in the first quarter that saw the Tigers off to a six-point deficit, Memphis regained its composure in the second quarter, as Davis scored six in the period to pull the Tigers within one by halftime. The home team forced nine turnovers from the Redhawks in the first half.
The Tigers held the visiting Redhawks to just 4-for-19 shooting in the second period, and allowed zero free throws, providing Memphis the opportunity to close the gap. The Tigers did just that, as Memphis used a 12-5 run to end the first half down just one point, 22-21.
The offense started rolling in the third quarter, as Memphis shot 9-for-16 from the floor in the period. Davis, for her part, scored 11 points on her way to establishing the lead for the Tigers. Memphis scored 22 points in the period to gain a nine-point lead at the end of three quarters. As the Tigers entered the fourth, the lead stood 43-34.
Davis continued her dominance in the fourth quarter, reaching her career-setting numbers before being pulled for the final few minutes. Memphis used solid free throw shooting to keep its lead intact, knocking down eight in the final frame to secure the win. Taylor Barnes bagged a pair of free throws in the quarter to reach double-digit scoring, and was one of six Tigers to record a steal on the night. Barnes and Jada Stinson led the team with three assists.
UT Arlington 65, Houston 61
The Houston Cougar Women's Basketball team dropped its non-conference, home finale 65-61 in overtime against UT Arlington on Monday inside the Fertitta Center.
Houston saw three players reach double-figures in scoring including a team-high 14 from Jasmyne Harris. Serithia Hawkins tabbed her 21st-career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Angela Harris also added 13 points.
Houston used a quick spurt to open the fourth quarter and pushed the lead to six with just over seven minutes to play in regulation. Serithia Hawkins scored the first two buckets of the half for the Cougars before Houston answered back-to-back scores from the Lady Mavericks with buckets from Octavia Barnes and Jasmyne Harris, and the lead stood at 50-44.
Following a Lady Maverick timeout, UTA would storm all the way back with four straight points from Terryn Milton and a pair of free throws from Laurynn McGowen to tie the score at 50. Houston would answer on the next possession with a 3-pointer from Angela Harris before a Hawkins bucket with 3:08 to play pushed the lead to four at 55-51.
The next four points however would belong to UTA's Johnson who knocked down a pair from the line before tying the game just under a minute later on a 15-foot jump shot. Houston would regain the lead with just 41 seconds remaining on a Branch fast-break layup, but a Johnson layup at the other end on the ensuing possession would force overtime tied at 57.
Houston grabbed the first bucket of the overtime period on a steal and finish the other way from Jasmyne Harris. UTA would score the next four points however to regain the lead at 61-59. The Cougars would tie the game with 2:06 remaining on another fast-break layup, however the Lady Mavericks would score the final four points of the game to take a 65-61 victory.
Senior forward Serithia Hawkins made her 100th career start for the Cougars. Hawkins became just the sixth student-athlete in Houston history to start triple-digit games. With four of her 12 rebounds coming on the offensive end, Hawkins now has 301 career offensive boards, making her just the fifth player in Houston history to accomplish that feat.
Hawkins and Angela Harris continue their pursuit of 1,000 points. With 13 points in the game, Hawkins now has 993 while Harris' 13-point affair gives her 898.
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