Saturday, February 25
UCF 64, Cincinnati 54 – Box Score
Tulane 64, East Carolina 56 – Box Score
Houston 60, Tulsa 37 – Box Score
Wichita State 79, Temple 67 – Box Score
Recaps
UCF 64, Cincinnati 54 – Box Score
ORLANDO – Headlined by a pair of 20-point scorers for the first time this season, UCF women's basketball sent its seniors out with a 64-54 win against Cincinnati Saturday afternoon in their final game inside Addition Financial Arena.
Seniors Destiny Thomas and Mya Burns shouldered the load for the Knights (13-13, 4-10 The American), as Thomas earned her 12th double-double with 21 points and 20 rebounds along with four blocks. Burns contributed 20 points, six rebounds and two steals. It marked the first time UCF has had two players with 20 points in the same game since Feb. 21, 2021, when the Knights also defeated Cincinnati.
The Black and Gold were locked in on defense to begin the game, forcing the Bearcats (10-17, 5-10 The American) into eight turnovers in the opening period as UCF held Cincinnati to only seven first-quarter points. That total marked the fewest the Knights have allowed in a quarter against a conference opponent this season. Burns was aggressive on offense, scoring six points in the first, while Thomas added four points and two rebounds.
The Knights' defensive intensity continued, by closing out on every shot they were able to force Cincinnati into tough shots. Rachel Ranke hit a deep three-point shot to put the Knights up 17-9 early in the second quarter. UCF showcased its unselfish play with its ball movement throughout the second quarter, the Knights had five assists on six made field goals. Sierra Godbolt showcased her vision with two back-to-back assists on a transition layup from Burns and a three-point make from Ashton Verhulst. The Knights went into halftime leading 35-19.
A slow start for the Knights in the third, indecisive decisions with the ball turned into four turnovers and five points for Cincinnati. Following a missed layup out of the timeout, Cincinnati cut the lead to six with a made three-pointer. Burns was able to connect on a three-pointer to increase the Knight's lead back to nine. Thomas controlled the paint, making it tough for Cincinnati to get anything around the rim with two of her four blocks in the third quarter. The Bearcats were able to connect on two three-pointers and outscore the Black and Gold 17 to 11 in the third quarter. The Knights headed into the fourth quarter with a 46-36 lead.
Cincinnati came into the fourth quarter applying full-court pressure leading the Knights into five more turnovers. Unable to get shot attempts, the lead was cut to four, the lowest it had been since the first quarter. The Black and Gold were only able to score three points in the quarter and Cincinnati took advantage outscoring the Knights 13 to three. After a pair of missed free throws from Thomas, she had the game-saving block to keep the game tied and send the game into overtime.
From the tip, overtime was all the Knights. The first points of overtime came on a three-pointer from Ranke assisted by Burns. Following a Bearcat turnover, Burns grabbed an offensive rebound, leading to Godbolt driving and dropping it off to Thomas to put the Knights up 56-49 with two key free-throw makes. The biggest shot of the game came from Ranke from the left wing to connect on a three-pointer. Assisted by Godbolt, Thomas set a great screen to free up Ranke for just enough time to sink the shot to put the Knights up by 10. The Knights shot 9-10 on free throws in overtime allowing UCF to hold on for its fourth conference win of the season.
Tulane 64, East Carolina 56 – Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – A suffocating defensive effort delivered Tulane University Women's Basketball (17-11, 7-8 The American) its fourth consecutive American Athletic Conference victory as it defeated East Carolina (20-9, 11-5 The American) 64-56 in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse Saturday. The Green Wave forced the Pirates into 20 turnovers and converted those mistakes into 14 points on the other end of the floor.
Three players posted double figures in the scoring column for the Wave led by Kyren Whittington with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Whittington also added six rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists to her stat sheet. Kierra Middleton stayed hot as she poured in 15 points including three triples off the bench. Dynah Jones rounded out the top scorers for Tulane on her senior night adding 10 points and a game-high six assists.
The scoring for ECU was led by Danae McNeal with a game-high 24 points. Jayla Hearp was the only other player with double digits for the Pirates finishing with 11 points.
Tulane and ECU went back and forth to open the contest until the Green Wave went on a 7-1 run to claim a five-point lead. The Wave maintained the advantage the remainder of the frame thanks to a pair of triples from Middleton in the final minutes that gave Tulane a 20-16 lead at the end of the first.
In the second quarter the Wave turned up the defensive pressure holding the Pirates to just six points on 25.0 percent shooting. Tulane also took advantage of seven ECU turnovers in the frame to take a 32-22 advantage into the locker room.
The defensive intensity carried into the second half for the Green Wave as Tulane forced 10 more turnovers in the third. Those turnovers were converted into 10 points on the other end to help the Wave's lead reach as many as 17 points. Tulane also held the Pirates to 20.0 percent shooting from the floor in the quarter to ultimately hold a 48-32 lead heading into fourth.
ECU did not go down quietly putting together an 11-0 scoring run in the final frame to cut Tulane's lead down to five. Marta Galic put the push by the Pirates to a halt with a three-pointer with 3:43 remaining. The Wave pushed its lead back out to double figures before holding off ECU for the 64-56 victory.
Houston 60, Tulsa 37 – Box Score
HOUSTON – Behind a double-double by graduate Tatyana Hill and a near triple-double by senior Tiara Young, the Houston women's basketball team got revenge for a two-point loss at Tulsa in January by blitzing the Hurricane in the second half on the way to a 60-37 win on Saturday in Fertitta Center.
For Hill, the double-double marks the first back-to-back double-double of her career after scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high tying 17 rebounds. The Houston-native pulled down 12 of her 17 rebounds in the first half with seven in the first quarter.
Young had an all-around fantastic game, scoring 12 points off the bench with nine rebounds and a career-high tying seven assists.
Houston (12-15, 9-5 The American) held Tulsa (16-12, 6-9 The American) to just one field goal in the second quarter, a three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining in the half before pouring it on offensively and defensively in the second half, outscoring Tulsa 42-21 in the final 20 minutes.
Tulsa's 37 points marks the third time this season a Houston opponent has scored less than 40 points, all three coming in conference play. Tulsa entered the game with the league's best scoring offense and third-most efficient shooting team, but Houston held the Hurricane to a season-low in points and shooting percentage (.222).
The third quarter was the kindest to the Cougars, who scored 26 points on 9-14 shooting from the field. Junior Laila Blair and seniors Britney Onyeje and Bria Patterson scored six points each in the period. Houston held Tulsa to just one field goal in the fourth quarter as well, a three pointer.
As a team, three Cougars scored in double figures and out-rebounded the Hurricane 53-32. With the win, Houston guarantees a first round bye to the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament March 6-9 in Fort Worth, Texas. The top five teams in the regular season standings get a bye to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Wichita State 79, Temple 67 – Box Score
WICHITA – A pair of 20-point, 10-rebound double-doubles from Jane Asinde and Curtessia Dean powered Wichita State to a 79-67 win over Temple Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (16-12, 6-9 The American) closed out its regular season home schedule with a win on Senior Day for Dean and Trajata Colbert.
Dean saved her best game for Senior Day, as she poured in a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. Asinde logged her 11th double-double behind 22 points and 10 boards. She also added three assists and three steals.
Trajata Colbert chipped in 13 points and Shamaryah Duncan added 11 to round out the double figure scorers.
Wichita State shot 51 percent from the floor, and was nearly perfect from the free throw line, going 17-for-18. Temple shot 45 percent despite going 5-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Wichita State built a 20-11 lead after 10 minutes behind 13 combined points from Dean and Asinde. The Shockers' defense forced Temple into difficult shots, as the Owls finished the quarter just 5-of-16 from the floor.
The Shockers pushed the margin to 11 on the first possession of the second quarter, but Temple would fight back to tie the game at 26 behind a trio of three-pointers.
A quick 7-0 spurt for the Shockers made it 33-26 only to see Temple close the half on its own 8-0 run to grab the lead, 34-33. The Owls outscored the Shockers 23-13 in the second period.
Temple's slow start on the offensive end didn't last long. The Owls shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second quarter and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to steal the lead before halftime. Eight Wichita State turnovers led to 12 points for the Owls.
Asinde led Wichita State with 12 first half points, followed by Dean with nine. Only four Shockers scored in the first half.
A fast and furious third quarter saw Wichita State put up 30 points and Temple, 25. The Owls began the period extending the lead to six near the midway point, but that's when Dean went into takeover mode.
Dean scored nine straight for Wichita State to tie the game at 51 with 4:27 remaining. After a DJ McCarty fast break layup gave the Shockers the lead, Dean scored two more to make it 11 of Wichita State's last 13 points.
Wichita State would eventually take a 63-59 lead into the final 10 minutes.
As high scoring as the third quarter was, the fourth quarter was about defense. Wichita State held Temple to just eight points in the deciding 10 minutes.
A corner triple from Nhug Bosch Duran with 5:42 left, essentially put the nail in the coffin. Bosch Duran's trey put the Shockers up by seven, and Temple would not come any closer than five the rest of the way.
Four free throws from Colbert in the final minute pushed the margin to double digits for good measure.