The final home game of the year for UCF Knights Women’s Basketball on Wednesday was an occasion not only because they were hosting the #17 West Virginia Mountaineers, but it was also senior night. After celebrating Jacorriah Bracey and Kristol Ayson’s final appearance at Addition Financial Arena during pregame, the Knights fought hard in a 74-62 loss.
Strong First Quarter
On February 11th, UCF lost to the Mountaineers in a 50-point blowout on the road. The start of this rematch at home was much stronger for the Knights, who led after the 1st quarter, 16-14. Ayson made her impact early, scoring four of her 12 points on the night in that time. However, it was Mahogany Chandler-Roberts dropping six of her nine points while Khyala Ngodu led UCF’s effort to dominate on the glass with six of the nine UCF rebounds to WVU’s three in the quarter.
Perhaps more impressive of all for the Knights was their ability to break the full-court press early. Throughout the first and second quarters, the Mountaineers covered UCF the length of the court. However, UCF broke through by minimizing mistakes. . . at first
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However, as the game wore on and subs rotated in, West Virginia was able to sneak in a few easy baskets on mistakes with 10 points off turnovers in the first half. Despite that, the Knights held on to the lead after the first half, 27-25.
Third Quarter Crumble
As WVU persisted in defending the length of the hardwood and wore the Knights down to pull away. They forced eight points off turnovers in the third quarter alone. This was a key factor in their winning that period 31-9 for a 56-36 lead heading into the 4th quarter. The Mountaineers also hit 13 of their 17 shot attempts in that time including hitting all three of their three-point attempts beyond the arc.
Gia Cooke was West Virginia’s top scorer with 19 points, including four of her seven shots connecting from three-point range. However, Jordan Harrison may have been the force that did the Knight in ultimately with her 16 points and seven assists, sinking six of her seven attempts from the floor.
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The Knights outscored their visitors 26-18 in the final quarter with Ngodu leading the charge with multiple continuations scoring in the paint. She finished with 21 points with nine rebounds in a performance where she hit all seven of her free throws in the contest.
UCF won the first and fourth quarter while tying in the second with the17th-ranked team in the nation — and it still wasn’t enough to overcome the struggles of the third quarter.
The Final Road
The final game of the regular season before the conference tournament has the Knights traveling to battle the Houston Cougars on Sunday at 3 pm ET. A win there would have UCF matching last year’s win total heading into postseason play.
When asked what her squad needed to do to head out on a high note, head coach Sytia Messer’s message was clear. “Defense travels — so we are going to take our defense and travel with the intensity we had defensively. And in Houston we have to take care of the ball; so it was good to see the pressure we have tonight and coming up because against Houston, because [the Cougars] do a good job of making you take quick shots. . .”
