Women's Basketball

The American Today: UCF Tops Cincinnati, Ends Five-Game Skid

UCF defeated Cincinnati and ended a five game skid while Tulsa won its sixth straight game during Saturday women's basketball action around The American.

UCF 66, Cincinnati 51

With head coach Joi Williams out of town due to a death in the family, associate head coach Ken Griffin guided UCF to its first win over Cincinnati in program history. The Knights topped the Bearcats 66-51 in UCF's Play4Kay game at CFE Arena in Orlando. Zykira Lewis scored a game-high 19 points while freshman Fifi Ndour recorded her second-straight game in double figures with 12 points. The Bearcats got 15 points from Jasmine Whitfield and 10 from Ana Owens in the loss.

No. 2/1 UConn 87, Tulane 39

Moriah Jefferson scored a game-high 16 points and paced six UConn players in double figures as the Huskies defeated Tulane, 87-39, Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion. Danielle Blagg had 10 points to lead the Green Wave, which had won three straight and were 8-1 on the road prior to the matchup. Breanna Stewart had 11 points and moved into a tie for 15th place on the school's all-time scoring list with assistant coach Shea Ralph. The junior has 1,678 points in just 101 games.

Temple 72, Houston 60

Five players scored in double figures for Temple in the Owls' 72-60 win over Houston Saturday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. Freshman Alliya Butts had a game-high 22 points for Temple and dished out a career-high six assists while the Cougars got 13 points apiece from Mariah Mitchell and Tyler Gilbert. The Owls shot nearly 70-percent (18-for-26) in the first-half and moved to 8-5 in The American and 12-14 overall with the win. Houston fell 1-13 in conference play and 6-19 overall with the loss.

Tulsa 72, SMU 59

Tulsa won its sixth straight game on Saturday after topping SMU, 72-59, at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. Ashley Clark had a game-high tying 19 points and Teanna Reid added 12 for the Hurricane, who improved to 9-4 in league play and 14-10 overall with the win. Gabrielle Wilkins scored a career-high 19 points for the Mustangs (5-19, 1-12) in the loss.