Saturday, Feb. 15
Highlights
UCF 49, Cincinnati 42
A slow start did not deter the UCF women's basketball team as the Knights earned a 49-42 win over Cincinnati in Addition Financial Arena on Saturday afternoon.
UCF (15-8, 7-4 The American) stepped up defensively in the second half to hold Cincinnati (16-8, 7-4 The American) to just 22 points – including eight in the final 10 minutes. The Knights relied on their defense in the contest as they had a slow offensive start to the game. After a four-point first quarter, UCF outscored the Bearcats in the second frame, but trailed 20-15 at halftime.
The Knights began to chip away in the third quarter and were able to take their first lead of the day on a pair of free throws from Kay Kay Wright with just under two minutes left in the frame. After Cincinnati reclaimed the advantage on a basket with 1:27 left, Courtajia Sanders put the Knights in front for good with two shots at the charity stripe. UCF led 35-34 heading into the final 10 minutes.
UCF maintained its lead in the final frame, holding off each rally from the Bearcats. Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch secured the Black and Gold's home victory as the Knights went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
The Knights outrebounded the Bearcats, 43-31. UCF also limited IImar'I Thomas, the conference's leading scorer, to just six points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field.
With the victory, UCF moved into a three-way tie with Cincinnati and Tulane for third place in the conference standings.
Kay Kay Weight led all scorers with 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds. She moved into third on UCF's career chart with a trio of steals against Cincinnati. The Orlando native also moved into fifth on the made field goals list with 572 during her tenure with the Black and Gold.
Courtajia Sanders just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Masseny Kaba was added nine points and grabbed eight boards. Diamond Battles pulled down a season-best seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
Temple 76, Houston 75
Junior forward Mia Davis poured in a game-high 27 points as the Temple women's basketball team topped Houston 76-75 Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. The Owls improved to 14-10 on the year and 6-5 in American Athletic Conference play while the Cougars dropped to 12-14 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
Houston took control of the first quarter, holding as much as a 16-point lead over Temple. The Owls clawed their way back to outscore the Cougars in both the second and third quarters. After trailing 38-33 at the half, Temple won the battle of the third quarter 26-18 as they took their first lead of the game.
Temple collected eight steals in the win, the most steals they've totaled against a conference opponent this season.
Houston held the edge in field goal percentage (47.5 to 46.4) and rebounds (34 to 33).
ECU 61, Memphis 57
What looked like a comfortable win ended up coming down to the wire, but the ECU women's basketball team held on for a 61-57 road win over Memphis on Saturday afternoon.
ECU (6-18, 3-8 AAC) had three players finish in double-figures, led by Taniyah Thompson's 18 points. Lashonda Monk also finished with 18, including a free throw to ice the win and added four rebounds and five steals. Dominique Claytor just missed a career-high, scoring 15 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and six steals.
Memphis was led by Alana Davis, who finished with a 16 points and nine rebounds. Dulcy Fankam Mendijadeu had a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while Madison Griggs finished with 13 points.
ECU could not have asked for much better of a start. After Memphis scored the opening basket, the Pirate defense took over and gave a boost to the offense. The Pirates rattled off an 18-2 run almost entirely powered by Monk and Claytor. Both hit a pair of triples and Monk had four steals during the run. By the end of the first quarter, the Pirates had a 22-9 lead.
While ECU's offense slowed in the second quarter, its defense still held strong. The Pirates scored just eight points in the frame, but held Memphis to only six of their own, giving ECU a 30-15 lead at the break. The 15 points for Memphis are the second-lowest first half total for a Pirate opponent this season.
However, Memphis came out of the halftime break firing and the Tigers were immediately back in the game. The Tigers started the second half on a 17-2 run, seven of which came from Griggs, and had the game tied at 32-32 less than five minutes into the third quarter.
With the Pirates teetering on the verge of collapse, Claytor acted as a stabilizing force. She hit a trio of free throws to keep ECU momentarily ahead. After a Griggs triple, her third of the quarter, tied the game, the Tigers took the lead on a layup. But Claytor answered the bell, making consecutive layups to push ECU back in front and then finding Monk for a triple. ECU made it a 9-0 run to end the third when Monk set up Tiara Chambers for a layup at the third quarter buzzer.
In the fourth quarter, it was Thompson's turn to step up and carry ECU. She scored the Pirates' first seven points of the fourth and 10 of the first 12, helping make sure ECU never let Memphis jump back ahead.
After Thompson hit a three with 2:56 to go and ECU leading 58-52, Memphis had one more run. The Tigers scored five straight points, the last a Fankam Mendijadeu layup with 28 seconds to go. Knowing a foul was coming, ECU ran an inbounds play from the sideline and Claytor found Thompson cutting to the basket for a layup.
The Pirates needed one more stop with Memphis trailing by three. ECU was able to force Griggs into a long three that bounced out, with Monk collecting the rebound. The senior guard made one free throw to make it a two-possession game and then Claytor finally iced the contest with a steal as time ran out.
Tulsa 65, SMU 58
Addison Richards recorded her first career double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds, setting new career-bests in both categories, to lead Tulsa to a 65-58 win over SMU on Saturday afternoon at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The Golden Hurricane moved to 7-18 on the season and 2-10 in American Athletic Conference play, snapping a five-game losing streak, while the Mustangs fell to 10-14 overall and 4-8 in the league.
It was Richards' ninth double-digit scoring game on the season and the first double-figure rebounding game of her career.
Destiny Johnson added a career-best 16 points, while KK Rodriguez posted seven points and Kendrian Elliott registered six. Both Rodriguez and Elliott pulled down six rebounds, Elliott had five assists, and Johnson had three steals.
Tulsa shot a solid 43.3-percent from the field, 33-percent from behind the arc and 64-percent from the free throw line, while SMU was held to just 30-percent from the field, 20-percent from three-point range and 68-percent from the line.
Both teams pulled down 44 rebounds, while Tulsa had a 16-8 lead in assists, and the SMU had a 4-2 edge in blocks and an 8-5 lead in steals.
The Golden Hurricane owned an 11-6 lead with 4:22 on the clock in the first quarter, but the teams were tied 15-15 at the end of the frame. Richards had over half of TU's points with eight, and had five of the eight Hurricane rebounds in the first 10 minutes.
Tulsa climbed to a seven-point lead, 28-21, with 2:40 on the clock in the second quarter and took a nine-point advantage, 35-26, into the locker room at halftime. By halftime, Richards had tied her career-high of 19 points and recorded a new career-best with eight rebounds.
SMU started the third quarter with a 7-0 to cut their deficit to two (35-33) at the 8:06 mark, but a 6-0 run by the Golden Hurricane made it an eight-point game (41-33) with 5:44 remaining in the frame. TU went up by double-digits on a pair of free throws made by Destiny Johnson with 3:28 on the clock (43-33), but the Mustangs cut the difference in half to trail 47-42 with one quarter to play.
SMU pulled to within three, 49-46, at the 8:41 mark, and then again with 4:43 to play (53-50), but that is as close as they would get as TU claimed the
The Mustangs were led by a trio of players in double figures, including 16 points by Amber Bacon, 13 from Johnasia Cash and 10 scored by Kayla White. Cash had a team-best 15 rebounds, while Reagan Bradley recorded 10 boards.