Tuesday, December 14-Wednesday, December 15
UCF (RV) 68, Seton Hall 56
Four Knights reached double figures as the UCF women's basketball team earned a 68-56 win at Seton Hall in Walsh Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.
UCF (8-1) withstood a second half rally from Seton Hall (4-5) to extend its win streak to seven in a row.
Masseny Kaba put the Knights on the board first, but the Pirates responded. Seton Hall held a 15-9 lead before UCF closed the gap to one, 18-17, at the end of the first quarter.
The UCF defense locked down in the second period, limiting Seton Hall to just eight points. Diamond Battles, Tay Sanders and Alisha Lewis combined for 18 points in the frame to give the Knights a 35-26 advantage at halftime.
UCF opened the second half on an 8-0 run to balloon its lead to 17 points, 43-26, with 5:57 left in the third quarter. The Pirates answered, outscoring UCF 18-4 down the stretch to cut the Black and Gold lead to three, 47-44, leading into the final 10 minutes.
A basket from Battles and a layup from Sanders pushed the Knights lead back to seven in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. A three-pointer from Lewis, a Battles layup and a jumper from Brittney Smith gave UCF a double-digit lead, 58-46, with 7:09 left, prompting Seton Hall to take a timeout.
The Pirates closed the gap to six, 58-52, but Lewis, Battles and Smith extended the advantage back to double figures, where the Knights kept it for the remainder of the contest.
Diamond Battles led four Knights in double figures, tallying 22 points while shooting 66.7 percent from the field. She also dished out a season-high six assists. Alisha Lewis added a season-best 15 points, shooting 62.5 percent, to go along with three assists and three steals. Tay Sanders chipped in 12 points with three steals. Masseny Kaba just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
UCF shot 50.9 percent from the field, matching their season high with 68 points. The Knights were also a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe while scoring 28 points in the paint.
No. 16 South Florida 69, Stetson 50
Elisa Pinzan scored all 12 of her points in the first half, Shae Leverett had 10 points and nine rebounds and No. 16 South Florida beat Stetson 69-50 on Wednesday.
Elena Tsineke also scored all 10 of her points before halftime to help the Bulls lead 37-25 after closing on a 16-2 run over the last four-plus minutes. Pinzan started the run with two 3-pointers and Leverett scored four points.
USF pulled away in the fourth quarter as Stetson missed 15 straight shots, starting late in the third.
Leverett was 3 of 3 from the field and 4 of 4 at the free-throw line for South Florida (7-3). Bethy Mununga, who grabbed her 700th career rebound against VCU on Sunday, added six points and nine rebounds. Pinzan was named the American Athletic Conference player of the week on Monday after scoring 24 points against VCU.
Tippy Robertson scored 12 points for Stetson (6-5). Kiya Turner added 11 points. The Hatters were held to 31.6% shooting and turned it over 17 times, which led to 19 South Florida points.
It was USF's first home game since Nov. 11. The Bulls will host High Point on Friday, followed by games against West Virginia and Mississippi next week in the West Palm Beach Invitational.
Cincinnati 63, Chattanooga 52
The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team battled through to beat the Chattanooga Mocs 63-52 Wednesday night on the road in McKenzie Arena.
The team shot 43.1% from field goal range and 77.8% from the free throw line, with 29 points coming off the bench. Freshman guard Braylyn Milton led the team with 18 points. The Bearcats improve to 6-4 on the season.
It was all Bearcats to start the game when junior point guard Akira Levy got the offense started with a long three point shot. Freshman guard Braylyn Milton had quick back-to-back layups to extend the scoring run to 7-0. The Mocs were scoreless until the 4:49 mark, where the only points they would score in the first quarter came from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Malea Williams and freshman forward Clarissa Craig added baskets to extend the Bearcats lead, 16-3.
The Bearcats started the second quarter on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 24-3, the largest lead of the game. Chattanooga's first field goal shot was a three pointer at the 4:42 mark and the Mocs would go on an 11-0 run to cut the Bearcats lead to nine, 24-15. The Bearcats would remain scoreless in the last six minutes of the quarter.
Chattanooga was off to a fast start in the third quarter with back-to-back three point shots and a layup to cut UC's lead to three, 24-23. Junior guard Caitlyn Wilson would end the Bearcats scoreless streak with a rebound and layup. Craig and Williams would add six more points for the Bearcats in an 8-0 run. The third quarter would end with Wilson recording back-to-back three point baskets and UC holding the lead, 40-29.
Milton started the fourth quarter at the free throw line, going 2-for-2 and getting the first two points, before junior forward Jadyn Scott added four more points with two free throw shots and pull-up jumper. However, Chattanooga wouldn't back down going on a 18-7 run to cut the lead again, 53-48. Things got tight with Chattanooga continuing to score and cutting the lead to one, 53-52. Levy would take the reins on the game and went on to score six points in the final three minutes, along with a clutch layup by Jadyn Scott, to secure the victory for the Bearcats.