Sunday, November 27
UCF 67, SE Missouri State 41 – Box Score
Temple 77, Bucknell 62 – Box Score
Virginia 72, East Carolina 50 – Box Score
Villanova 72, South Florida 50 – Box Score
Recaps
UCF 67, SE Missouri State 41 – Box Score
ORLANDO – Not even 24 hours removed from their down-to-the-wire double-overtime win to wrap up Day One of the Thanksgiving Classic at Addition Financial Arena Saturday, the UCF women's basketball team was looking to clamp down on the defensive end of the floor against Southeast Missouri State on Sunday afternoon.
UCF (5-0, 0-0 AAC) accomplished just that and then some, holding the Redhawks (2-4, 0-0 OVC) to single-digit points in the first and fourth quarters en route to locking up their strong 67-41 win, marking their fifth straight victory to begin the new season.
The Knights' 11 steals marked the third time in their first five games this season in which they recorded double-digit takeaways, and their 53 rebounds marked a season-high. Their 26-point margin of victory also represented UCF's second-largest of the young campaign.
The Knights began the afternoon strong, recording the game's first five points courtesy of a trio of made free throw attempts and a Thomas layup within the first minute of play. After allowing Southeast Missouri State to take its first lead with seven straight points, UCF clamped down on the defensive end.
Following a Redhawks field goal that put the Knights in a 7-5 deficit with 6:59 in the first quarter, the Knights allowed just a single free throw the remainder of the period. Sierra Godbolt scored five points on a 10-1 Knights run, that also saw Laila Jewett knock down UCF's first triple, to conclude the quarter with UCF holding a 15-8 advantage.
UCF continued its scoring run into the second quarter, and by the time Southeast Missouri State finally found the scoreboard again on a free throw with 5:08 to go in the first half, it had been held to just one point for almost 10 minutes of gametime.
Jewett drilled her second 3-point field goal, followed closely by triples from Mya Burns and Tiani Abrams that highlighted a 13-1 stretch that opened the second frame for UCF and gave the Knights a 28-9 lead with 4:55 to play in the half.
The Redhawks managed to cut into their deficit a bit in the seconds before halftime. The second Southeast Missouri State 3-pointer of the game, coupled with three made tries from the free throw line after a foul by Burns on a 3-point attempt, shaved UCF's lead to 32-21 in the final 65 seconds of the first half.
Gibson, who finished with a team-leading 17 points, helped preserve the Knights' lead through a third quarter that saw the Redhawks find their offensive footing. Southeast Missouri State scored a game-high 16 points in the period, but Gibson sent UCF to the final 10 minutes of play with 10 of the Knights' 19 points in the frame, including UCF's sixth 3-point shot of the day.
UCF cruised through the final frame, yielding just two Redhawks field goals and four total points in the period to remain unbeaten through five games. Thomas scored 12 points to accompany her 10 rebounds, and Gibson posted her first double-double this season with 10 rebounds. Burns and Jewett joined their teammates in double-digit scoring with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Temple 77, Bucknell 62 – Box Score
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Temple women's basketball team (2-4, 0-0 American) took down the Bucknell Bison (2-5, 0-0 Patriot), 77-62 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Sunday evening. The win marks the first road victory of head coach Diane Richardson's tenure at Temple.
The two sides were even in the first five minutes. Temple was able to take an early 11-10 lead going into the first media timeout. The points continued to pile on in first frame. Bucknell built a 21-15 lead with 48 seconds remaining on the clock. The Owls countered with a Nelson three and a Jalynn Holmes buzzer beater from deep to tie the game at the end of one. Nelson led all scorers in the first quarter with ten points.
The Bison scored the first couple baskets of the second to build an early four-point lead. Two of the first three scores for the Cherry & White were scored by Nelson from beyond the arc sto give TU the lead back, 29-28. At this point, Nelson had 16. The Owls went on a 10-3 run to close the half. Clinton scored six of the ten. Nelson led the charge in the first with 16 points, three assists, and an assist. Jalynn Holmes made an impact off the bench with 5 points and a team-leading 5 boards.
Temple exploded out of the gate to extend the lead to 13 (45-32). Tiarra East scored four of the six points. The Bison began cutting into the lead, getting it down to six by the third quarter media timeout. The Owl offense caught fire, exploding for 25 points in the third. Caranda Perea and Jasha Clinton led Temple with six each in the frame.
The Cherry & White scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter. Holmes scored four of the seven. Denise Solis scored the next two baskets. She had a season-high eight points. Clinton buried a three-pointer to put an exclamation point on the win for the Owls.
Nelson scored a season-high for any Owl with 23 points. She also added 5 assists. Clinton added her own season-high of 17 points to go with 4 assists. Jalynn Holmes had one of best games in Cherry & White. She scored nine points to go with a game and career-high seven rebounds. Caranda Perea 8 points to go with six rebounds. Her six boards are the most since joining the Owls.
Virginia 72, East Carolina 50 – Box Score
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The East Carolina women's basketball team fell to the Virginia Cavaliers 72-50 on Sunday in their first true road test of the season at John Paul Jones Arena in the team's final game of the Cavalier Classic.
The first quarter, then ultimately the game, was one in which the Pirates (5-2) simply could not find a flow. A lengthy review which resulted in only a common foul on Synia Johnson did not help, as Virginia (8-0) came out of the pause with better execution and put on a 6-0 run to force an ECU timeout at 14-7 with under two to play in the period.
Morgan Moseley was a first-quarter bright spot for the Pirates, scoring six points without a miss from the field, including a pair of baskets after the timeout which cut the deficit to only three after a quarter of play.
It was Virginia who found their footing first in the second quarter, expanding their lead slightly before busting it open to an 11-point margin with a 48-second 7-0 run. The Cavaliers did so largely by out rebounding ECU, including five on the offensive which led to 10 second chance points.
The Pirates woke up late in the first half, however, making an 8-2 run of their own led entirely by Danae McNeal. McNeal scored all eight points, four of which came off of Virginia turnovers. McNeal would go on to lead the Pirates with 14 points on the game. ECU went into the break with a fighting chance down only 31-25.
The second half was a different story, but was reinforced by some of the same qualities which gave the Cavaliers their advantage in the first half. Virginia began to assert their dominance in the third quarter, showing the quality which had led them to an undefeated start to the season. It was a second half in which it seemed like a 50-50 ball simply refused to go the Pirates way. The team shot 2-14 from the field in the third as Virginia extended the margin to 21 at 53-32.
Though the score was closer in the fourth quarter, the story was much the same. The Pirates finally made a pair of threes thanks to Micah Dennis and Jayla Hearp but finished the game being out rebounded 56-25 and allowing 25 second chance points.
Villanova 72, South Florida 50 – Box Score
ESTERO, Fla. — The University of South Florida women's basketball team got 17 points from Sammie Puisis, 14 points and 17 rebounds from Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and 11 points from Elena Tsineke but that wasn't enough as the Bulls fell to No. 23/RV Villanova, 72-50, in the third-place game of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena in Estero on Sunday night.
South Florida drops to 7-2 on the year while the Wildcats improve to 6-1.
During the first quarter, Fankam Mendjiadeu set the tournament rebounding record with her fifth board of the game, surpassing the previous mark of 36 set by Ebony Rowe of Middle Tennessee in 2013. Fankam Mendjiadeu finished the game with 49 rebounds for the three-game tournament. In addition, the senior from Cameroon grabbed her 800th career rebound during the game between Memphis and South Florida.
Villanova jumped out and took control early in the game leading by as many as 21 in the second quarter, 39-21, with just over two minutes left in the half.
After leading at the break, 39-23, the Wildcats came out and scored the first basket of the second half, but the Bulls scored the next five points to cut the Villanova lead to 12, 41-29, on baskets by Tsineke and Carla Brito, but that was as close as South Florida got the rest of the night.
The Bulls finished the game shooting just 33.9 percent (19-for-56) from the field against the Wildcats and 55.0 percent (11-for-20) from the free-throw line, while Villanova hit 48.3 percent 28-for-58 from the floor.