Korneila Wright, Lawriell Wilson Lead UCF to Thanksgiving Classic Win

(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

Game Recap

ORLANDO, Fla. – UCF Knights guard Aliyah Gregory has been the team’s perennial leading scorer dating back to last season. But when she and her team-leading 16 points-per-game average sat in less than three minutes into the opener of the UCF Thanksgiving Classic against the IUPUI Jaguars, the Knights looked to other scorers.

In Korneila Wright’s team-leading 15 points, Lawriell Wilson’s 14 points and Masseny Kaba’s 11 points, UCF found the scoring boost it needed. Their combined 40 points helped the Knights (3-3) win 63-59 over the Jaguars (3-1) at CFE Arena Saturday afternoon.

“There’s a lot of times that in practice that I’ll take Aliyah out and force everybody else to, offensively, you know, get shots and, you know, run the sets and run our offenses so it’s not always Aliyah taking every single shot,” UCF head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said after the win. “We knew Lawriell was a really good scorer coming out of her junior college… I thought Masseny did a great job. She’s a freshman, and she, you know, has really been focusing on what she needs to do in our offense, too, and how she gets points.

“But I think Kay Kay and Lawriell really did a good job of getting the ball to the correct people. Their passes were great. They got Fifi [Ndour] some shots and Mass some shots and some nice dump passes and Masseny focusing on finishing ‘em.”

Trailing 60-51 with less than two minutes to play, IUPUI guard Danielle Lawrence started her own 8-1 run to pull the Jaguars within two points. After Wilson made one of her two free throws to give UCF the nine-point lead, Lawrence began the run with a layup. After Wright missed a jumper, Lawrence hit her first three-pointer of the game. Following Nyala Shuler’s consecutive misses from the line, Wilson made one of her two free throws before Lawrence made recorded her second and final made three-pointer of the game to make it a 61-59 game.

Gregory ultimately solidified the victory by making two free throws in the final seconds. She also scored the game’s first two points of the games off free throws before the tipoff. The Jaguars were assessed a technical before the game started, as their starting lineup was not delivered to the official statistician in a timely manner.

“[I saw] leadership [in the final minutes],” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I think No. 42 got too many threes off on Kay Kay. It was Kay Kay’s spot. Sorry, Kay Kay, but it was Kay Kay’s spot, and she knew that. But I thought Kay Kay…did a good job, and so we gotta go over people pressing us in terms of, you know, in situations like that. But it was good that Ny was in, Fifi was in, Aliyah was in, Kay Kay was in—people that know what to do in those situations.”

Were it not for Gregory’s two pre-tipoff free throws, the Knights would have only won by two points.

“[That’s] never happened for me,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “So I was like, ‘Wow, there’s something good happened, you know, for us…’ But, yeah, I’ve never really seen that before a lot—maybe four or five times, but it was always on my side where the other team was shooting, so we got lucky right there, and I told Aliyah, you know, gotta make these two free points that really helped us out.”

UCF and IUPUI battled to a near neck-and-neck tie by halftime, as the Knights recorded their highest-scoring first quarter this season with 20 points. The Knights began to break away in the third quarter, courtesy of a 9-0 run led by Wright. During that stretch, Wright accounted for five points, two steals, an assist and a rebound.

“I think in our minds, it was just time to score,” Wright said after the game. “You know, we knew we had to stop them on the defensive end, just get out in transition and get easy buckets, so I think we rallied together and got stops and just gave us the ability to get out in transition, get some easy points and, you know, go up.”

Player of the Game: G Korneila Wright

Wright had a team-high 15 points and tied three other Knights for most assists on the team with two in the win over IUPUI. She also played a team-high 39 minutes, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and recorded just two turnovers. Her five steals were, by far, the most of any player on the court, as no other player from either team recorded more than one in the Saturday game.

What’s next?

The Knights face a quick turnaround when they host the Northern Iowa Panthers on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to conclude the UCF Thanksgiving Classic.

Katie Abrahamson-Henderson Playing It Safe with Zakiya Saunders’ Injury

Guard Zakiya Saunders has appeared in only the first two games of the season, so far, as she is nursing a left-foot injury. During Saturday’s game, she was wearing a boot. Abrahamson-Henderson didn’t provide a specific timetable for Saunders’ return, but the second-year boss expects her star guard to return before conference play begins.

“You know, we’re being really smart with her because I would like to have everybody healthy by the time the conference start; it’d be great,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “So we’re just trying to be really smart and make sure her foot’s really healed before she even gets out there.”

In her stead, Wilson has become one of Abrahamson-Henderson’s go-to options. Wilson, a first-year Knight, started her second game this season against IUPUI after starting her first against the Chattanooga Mocs. So far, Wilson is averaging 5.5 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists per game. Wilson scored a season-high 14 points on Saturday.

“It’s been kinda tough, but I’m adjusting,” Wilson said after the win. “I know I have some big shoes to fill, but I have to go out there and give it all I have because I have to have my teammates’ back.”

Said Abrahamson-Henderson on Wilson’s increased role: “Yeah, I mean, she said it; it’s been hard. You know, coming from a junior college and being really good and one of the top, you know, 10 junior-college players in the country, that’s what she was, in terms of scoring. But it’s a whole different level coming here, defensively, too. I think, offensively, she’s always gonna be really good for us, but, defensively, she didn’t really have to play that much defense, and so that’s been the biggest role and the biggest change for her.”

Highlights

Calm, cool Kay Kay 😎 pic.twitter.com/6w7VTpXk0y

— UCF Women’s Hoops (@UCF_WBB) November 25, 2017

Swishes all day for Kay Kay!

She has 15 as we lead 57-49 in the 4Q! #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/2vOW69VKPk

— UCF Women’s Hoops (@UCF_WBB) November 25, 2017

NDR Notes

• Gregory sat for virtually the entire first half, as she recorded two fouls in less than three minutes into the game.
• UCF and IUPUI haven’t met since Dec. 19, 1984. In that matchup, UCF won 100-61 in Orlando.
• The Knights hold a 2-0 all-time record over the Jaguars.
• Wright recorded a game-high five steals, as no other player recorded more than one during the Saturday matchup.

Scoring

Statistics and Starting Lineups

Team Leaders

Team Statistics

Shooting Percentages

UCF Knights starting lineup: Korneila Wright (G), Aliyah Gregory (G), Lawriell Wilson (G), Nyala Shuler (F), Masseny Kaba (F)

IUPUI Jaguars starting lineup: Sydney Hall (G), Danielle Lawrence (G), Jenna Gunn (F), Tamya Sims (F), Macee Williams (C)

For more on the Knights, as they look to conclude their Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.