Saturday, February 26
No. RV/25 UCF 74, Cincinnati 39
A dominant first quarter set the tone as UCF cruised to a 74-39 win over Cincinnati in Addition Financial Arena on Saturday afternoon, clinching the American Athletic Conference regular season title.
UCF (21-3, 13-1 The American) poured in a season-high 33 points in the opening 10 minutes while holding Cincinnati (11-16, 4-11 The American) to just 11 points in the first half.
Four Knights finished in double figures while no Bearcat had more than nine points.
All seven Knights that saw action in the first period scored, with Destiny Thomas and Brittney Smith each tallying eight points. UCF pushed its advantage to 42-11 at halftime.
UCF kept a double-digit lead for the entire second half on its way to clinching the first regular season championship in The American. Saturday marks UCF's first regular season title since the 2005 Atlantic Sun title.
The Knights scored 32 points in the paint and used 16 offensive rebounds to score 19 points. UCF held a 43-29 rebounding edge.
Thomas and Smith each finished with 16 points. Thomas tallied her second double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. Diamond Battles added 12 points with four assists and three steals. Tay Sanders chipped in 10 points. Alisha Lewis had six assists with three steals.
Tulane 71, Temple 56
Lock down perimeter defense led the way for the Tulane women's basketball team (20-7, 11-4) to notch its 20th win of the season by defeating Temple (12-13, 7-7) 71-56 on the road Saturday afternoon. The Green Wave held the Owls to 9.5 percent shooting on 2-of-21 from beyond the arc and forced Temple into 14 turnovers.
With the victory, Tulane extended its winning streak to nine games. The nine-straight wins is the longest streak since the 2010-11 season when the Wave also won nine in a row. Tulane also extended its win streak against American Athletic Conference opponents to eight games, which is its longest streak since joining the league for the 2014-15 season. The win over the Owls also marks the 16th 20-win season for the Green Wave under Head Coach Lisa Stockton.
A Tulane trio finished with double figures against Temple with redshirt junior Dynah Jones leading the way with 18 points. Mia Heide followed with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Arsula Clark finished with 10 points of her own.
Redshirt senior Kaila Anderson matched a career-best dishing out 10 assists to just one turnover in the contest. As a team, Tulane collected 19 assists on 30 made shots. The Wave used the painted area to its advantage outscoring the Owls 44-30 around the rim and picking up four blocks on the defensive end.
The opening quarter was evenly matched as Tulane and Temple used scoring runs to exchange leads five times in the frame. After the Owls got on the board first, the Green Wave scored seven unanswered to take a 7-2 lead. Temple took the advantage back with 9-0 run, but the Wave got the last laugh in the quarter as Clark scored in the lane to give Tulane a 15-14 lead at the end of the frame.
The Wave and the Owls continued to go back and forth to begin the second quarter until Tulane claimed control with a 10-0 run to take the lead 27-19. A strong effort on both ends of the floor helped the Green Wave hold on to the advantage at the end of the first half. Tulane shot 50 percent from the field and forced the Owls into six turnovers. The Wave got the final bucket of the frame again when Irina Parau banked in a three-pointer to beat the buzzer and send Tulane into the locker room up 34-27.
The game of runs carried into the third quarter as this time it was Temple with a 13-4 run out of the locker room to take the lead 40-38 with 6:15 to play. The Wave and the Owls traded baskets over the next few minutes, but it was once again Tulane in front at the end of the frame with a 52-46 advantage.
Tulane turned back to its defense in the final ten minutes to close out the Owls. The Wave held Temple to just 2-of-18 shooting in the fourth quarter and without a basket in the final 6:03. On the other end of the floor the Green Wave put the game on ice from the charity stripe shooting 7-of-8 at the line to secure the 71-56 victory.
Houston 65, SMU 36
Three Houston Women's Basketball players finished in double-digit scoring, led by a game-high 17 points from Britney Onyeje as the Cougars cruised a 65-36 victory on senior day Saturday afternoon from Fertitta Center.
Houston (14-13, 7-8 American) has won five of its last seven contests including two straight games. Eryka Sidney added 10 points in her senior sendoff. Tiara Young totaled 13 points and Bria Patterson brought in seven rebounds.
Onyeje, who was among five seniors honored pregame, registered three of Houston's 11 steals alongside two blocks. The Pflugerville, Texas, native also hit a three 3-pointers, leading Houston to its second victory over SMU this month.
SMU's 36 points were the fewest allowed by the Cougars this season. Houston turned 19 SMU (12-12, 6-6 American) turnovers into 25 points. Houston shot 40% from behind the arc (6-of-15) while limiting the Mustangs to single digits in three of four quarters.