Sunday, January 16
UCF (RV) 67, No. 24 South Florida 51
The UCF women's team jumped out to an early lead over No. 24 South Florida and never looked back, claiming the first War on I-4 victory, 67-51, in Addition Financial Arena on Sunday afternoon.
UCF (12-2, 4-0 The American) handed South Florida (12-5, 2-1) its first conference loss of the season and pick up its first win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Black and Gold wasted no time, scoring seven unanswered in the first two minutes and change. The Bulls were able to pull within two, 15-13, with just over two minutes remaining in the period. The UCF forwards went to work, with Destiny Thomas and Brittney Smith each tallying a bucket to put the Knights on top 19-13 after the first period.
UCF doubled up South Florida's scoring in the second frame, 18-9, to push out to a double-figure lead and held a 37-22 edge at halftime. The Knights poured in 18 points in the third quarter to balloon their lead over 20 points, 55-34, heading into the final 10 minutes.
South Florida made a run in the fourth quarter to pull within 10 points, 61-51, with 2:28 remaining, but the UCF defense came through once again, holding the Bulls scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
A trio of Knights finished in double figures, led by Diamond Battles' 19 points. The Winter Haven, Fla., native shot 50 percent from the field and was 3-4 from deep. Tay Sanders added 18 points, shooting 63.6 percent from the field.
Alisha Lewis chipped in 12 points with six assists and four steals. Masseny Kaba collected all six of her team-leading rebounds on the offensive glass.
While the Bulls held a 31-29 rebounding edge, UCF had the advantage in second chance points. The Knights used 14 offensive rebounds to score 13 points.
As a team, UCF shot 49.1 percent from the field and four Knights finished shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. The Black and Gold shot 52 percent or better in each of the first three quarters.
East Carolina 71, Cincinnati 48
A bounce-back defensive effort from the East Carolina women's basketball team helped the Pirates beat Cincinnati 71-48.
East Carolina improved to 8-9 on the season with a 1-3 AAC mark while Cincinnati drops to 7-9 and 0-4 in league play.
The Pirate defense controlled the game right away, as ECU held Cincinnati to just 3-of-15 (.200) shooting in the first quarter and forced nine Cincinnati turnovers. But East Carolina's offense was slow out of the gates as well, with Raven Johnson and Taniyah Thompson combining to score 13 of ECU's 16 points in the opening frame. Alexsia Rose and Johnson each had three made free throws in the quarter, helping ECU take a 16-11 lead after one.
While the ECU defense again had a strong quarter in the second frame, it was the offense turning that defense into points that helped the Pirates start to pull away. The Pirate once again held Cincinnati under 25% shooting in the frame, (3-of-13 for 23.1%) and scored seven points off seven Bearcat turnovers. Morgan Moseley and Synia Johnson were the main offensive contributors for the Pirates. Johnson had five points in an early 9-2 ECU run. Moseley finished with eight points in the frame, including burying a triple from the top of the key to finish the half, staking East Carolina to a 31-19 lead.
Raven Johnson took over the game for the Pirates in the third quarter. The graduate student scored 11 points in the frame and she did it in a variety of ways. Johnson buried a pair of triples and also made three free throws. Rose provided a great supporting act for Johnson, adding five points of her own while helped ECU extend the lead to 51-35 heading into the fourth.
The Pirates added even more to the cushion with a quick 6-0 run to start the quarter. Da'Ja Green dribbled into a jumper to start the run. After a Pirate turnover, Rose stole the ensuing Cincinnati possession and raced in for a layup, followed by Tylar Bennett picking off a Bearcat pass and feeding Johnson for a short jumper. That made it 57-35 in favor of the Pirates and Cincinnati never got closer than 20 points over the remaining eight minutes.
It was the fourth 20-point game of Raven Johnson's career and the first since she scored a career-high 24 points against Wake Forest on Nov. 24, 2018.
Bennett finished with two points, five rebounds, four assists and six blocks. She becomes just the second player in East Carolina history with multiple career games of at least six blocks, joining Ondrea Shaw who had six such games in her career.
Memphis 50, Wichita State 49
The Tigers picked up their first AAC win of the season when they snuck away with a 50-49 win over the Shockers of Wichita State on Sunday afternoon.
Following today's game, Memphis moves to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in AAC play.
It was close from the tip, the Tigers never being more than eight points ahead of the Shockers in 40 minutes of play.
Memphis would take an early 9-4 lead in the first quarter off consecutive baskets from Tyler Frierson and Emani Jefferson. Following a Wichita State bucket, Jamirah Shutes would complete an -and one play to put the Tigers up 12-6.
The Shocker offense would continue to push back, cutting into Memphis' lead and taking a 15-12 score in to the second quarter.
The battle continued in the second as Wichita State cut the Memphis lead to just two with 6:39 left in the quarter.
Makaiya Brooks ignited the offense as she came off the bench and drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the Tigers out to a six-point lead. Buckets would be few and far-between for both sides to finish out the first half and Memphis would take their 31-27 lead into halftime.
The defensive battle came to life in the second half as Memphis and Wichita State combined for just 20 points in the third quarter.
The Tigers would see their largest lead of the day following a three-pointer from Maya Stovall put Memphis up 38-30 with 7:27 remaining in the quarter. While the Shockers continued to challenge the Memphis defense, three blocks from Alana Davis, Lanetta Williams and Tyler Frierson would help hold Wichita State to just nine points and take the 42-36 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Memphis battled in the fourth quarter, trying to fend past the Wichita State press. A seven-point lead for the Tigers would dwindle down to as little one with four seconds left on the clock, but Memphis held strong in the final seconds of the game, and they secured the 50-49 win.
Jamirah Shutes led all players with 15 points while Shutes, Lanetta Williams, Tyler Frierson and Hannah Riddick all grabbed six rebounds each. Williams also added in a career-high six blocks in the win.
As a team, Memphis shot just under 37% from the field and drained nine three-pointers.