Highlights
UCF 75, ECU 54
For the first time as a member of the American Athletic Conference, the UCF women's basketball team closed out the regular season with a win, defeating ECU 75-54 in CFE Arena on Monday evening. UCF (20-9, 12-4 The American) jumped out to a scorching start, shooting 76.9 percent from the floor to take a 24-9 lead over ECU (15-14, 7-10 The American) after one quarter of action. The Knights continued their hot shooting, hitting 61.5 percent of their shots in the second quarter and took a 44-24 lead into the locker rooms.
Aliyah Gregory led all scorers with 14 points, hitting six of her seven field goals. Masseny Kaba added 11 points, and Kay Kay Wright and Zakiya Saunders
each chipped in 10 points.
Cincinnati 61, Houston 57
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball weathered a late Houston rally to secure a 61-57 Senior Night win inside Saint Ursula Academy Gymnasium & Convocation Center. With the win, the Bearcats clinched the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the 2018 Aaron's American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship, March 3-6 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Red & Black will face the winner of the No. 12 Tulsa – No. 5 Houston matchup on Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
The two Bearcats seniors stepped up on Monday in their final home regular season game. Senior forward Shanice Johnson led all scorers with 17 points as well as five assists, two blocks, and two steals. Owens, in her 120th career start, chipped in 11 points and five assists. The Cougars had two players reach double figures in scoring, including a team-high 16 points from sophomore
Dorian Branch. Jasmyne Harris finished the game with 13 points, while Myyah West led the Cougars on the glass with six rebounds.
Memphis 83, Temple 78
The University of Memphis women's basketball team made history Monday evening as it finished the 2017-18 regular season with a 83-78 overtime road victory at Temple. It was the first time Memphis defeated Temple in Philadelphia in program history. The Tigers end the regular season with a 10-19 overall record and 5-11 mark in American Athletic Conference play. In a game with many swings, the first turning point for the Tigers was a 9-0 run to cut a 10-point Temple lead down to one in the third quarter. Then, with 4:01 remaining in regulation, Taylor Barnes knocked down a three-pointer to tie up the contest for the fourth time. The only other time in the contest Memphis trailed was after the first basket in the overtime period. Cheyenne Creighton
knocked down her second three-pointer of the game with 4:27 left in overtime to put Memphis up for good.
Alana Davis scored a career-high 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double this season. In a career-high 42 minutes on the floor, Davis went 7-for-12 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the charity stripe. For Temple, Tanaya Atkinson was spectacular in her final game at McGonigle Hall, finishing with 26 points, 14 rebounds, five steals, and five assists.
UConn 82, USF 53
Gabby Williams scored 18 points and dished out nine assists on her senior night and top-ranked UConn completed an undefeated regular season for the 10th time in program history with an 82-53 win over No. 20 South Florida.
Azura Stevens led all scorers with 21 points and Katie Lou Samuelson had 14 for the Huskies (29-0, 16-0 American), who are now 98-0 in games against American Athletic Conference opponents. They are 86-0 in the regular season and have won all four conference tournaments. Kitija Laksa scored all but two of her 14 points in the second half for USF (24-6, 13-3). The Bulls lost for the first time in 10 games. They had won 12 of 13 since being blown out by UConn last month in Tampa.
Williams scored the first five Connecticut points Monday and the Huskies used a 13-0 run to break open a 10-8 game. It was 29-12 after 10 minutes. Another run, this one 12-0 in the second quarter, put the game away. Williams had 16 points before halftime and the Huskies led 50-26 at the break.
Tulane 52, SMU 46
Kolby Morgan and Caylah Cruickshank were not going to lose this one. Not the final home game of their careers. Not on Senior Night.
Trailing SMU 37-27 through three quarters, Morgan and Cruickshank combined for a 13-0 run and led the Tulane women's basketball team to a 52-46 victory over SMU at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Monday night. The Green Wave would not have earned that No. 9 seed if not for Morgan and Cruickshank's fourth-quarter heroics. Morgan finished the game with 24 points, her first 20-point game in three weeks. Cruickshank scored 7 at game's end, all in the fourth quarter.
SMU senior McKenzie Adams led the way for the Mustangs by scoring 20 points for her 10th game this season with at least 20 points. Adams was especially important early on, hitting all of her first seven shots and scoring 15 of the Mustangs first 18 points.
Wichita State 70, Tulsa 59
Rangie Bessard and Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage registered double-doubles to lead Wichita State to a 70-59 win at Tulsa Monday night in the regular season finale. Wichita State (14-16, 9-7) capped its first season in the American Athletic Conference with its fourth-straight win. The Shockers and Golden Hurricane split the season series after TU won the conference-opener in Wichita. The win also locked Wichita State into the No. 6 seed for this weekend's American Conference Tournament.
The Shockers pounded Tulsa (9-20, 3-13) on the glass, outrebounding them 45-33 and outscoring TU in second chance points, 15-3. Both teams shot 38 percent from the field.WSU was able to secure the win at the free throw line, going 18-for-22.
Erika Wakefield led all scorers with 17 points and Alexis Gaulden added 12 for the Hurricane.
Upcoming Schedule
Feb. 26 (Monday)
| ECU at UCF |
7 p.m. ET |
| 18/17 USF at 1/1 UConn |
7 p.m. ET |
| -/RV Houston at Cincinnati |
7 p.m. ET |
| Memphis at Temple |
7 p.m. ET |
| SMU at Tulane |
8 p.m. ET |
| Wichita State at Tulsa |
8 p.m. ET |
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