Aliyah Gregory, Zakiya Saunders Lead UCF to Rout of Georgia Southern

(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

Game Recap

ORLANDO, Fla. – Not since the first game of the season did guards Aliyah Gregory and Zakiya Saunders start the same game. Both seniors made the most of their chance to share the court together, again, as they led the Knights (5-4) to a 62-38 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles Sunday afternoon at CFE Arena.

“Awesome. Awesome. ‘Cause they set the tempo for this game, just coming out right away,” Knights head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said after the win. “And you can see by the way they play, they’re just very mature, and they play really hard. I think they had a lot of fun playing together, which is really cool to see. So, I know that Aliyah was waiting all year long to be able to play with Zee and, you know, just kinda feed off each other. And so I saw a lot of smiles out there and high-fives with the whole team, not just them.”

UCF leapt to an early double-digit lead behind one of its best defensive quarters of the season. The Knights held Georgia Southern to just three points on 1-for-13 shooting from the field and forced two turnovers to claim an early 13-3 lead. UCF didn’t lead by more because of its 26.7 percent field-goal percentage.

Gregory led the Knights by scoring a game-high six first-quarter points. All six of those points came in the opening minutes, as she scored six of the Knights’ first seven. Gregory, who also recorded UCF’s lone steal of the first, said the early lead started with defense.

“It helps us out a lot ’cause our defense always creates our offense,” Gregory said after the game. “And I think we’re a defensive-minded team, so when we can start out a game and hold somebody to three points, that kinda gets our energy going; that gets us going, and then we’re able to knock down shots on the other end.”

The Eagles recovered and made it a 10-point game entering halftime, matching UCF’s 17 second-quarter points with 17 of their own. That started with back-to-back Georgia Southern buckets with about six minutes to play in the second quarter. The Eagles finished the second quarter with a 17-11 run, as Alexis Foulks led the Eagles with six points in that run.

Georgia Southern cut its deficit to as low as six points, courtesy of a 4-0 run to start the second half. Gregory, however, hit a jumper midway through the third quarter for another double-digit lead, not allowing the Eagles to come within single digits the rest of the game. That jumper started a 10-0 run that helped UCF claim a 46-27 lead, its largest at the time.

It was UCF’s defense that ultimately sealed the game for the Knights. Georgia Southern was limited to 25 percent shooting for the game and had 16 turnovers. The Knights recorded eight steals, led by Saunders’ three.

“Really just our defense and communicating with each other on defense where we are,” Saunders said after the win. “Coach Abe was in the huddles talking about how we need to play better defense and not be so lazy… So we just came out and then started playing harder, talking to each other better, communicating on defense, and then our defense created our offense.”

UCF was led by a 16-point performances from Gregory and Saunders, as Saunders added 7 assists. Freshman Masseny Kaba was four points shy of a double-double, claiming 11 rebounds (3 offensive) and scoring six points.

Player of the Game: G Zakiya Saunders

Saunders finished the game with her most efficient performance as a Knight. In three games prior to the win over Georgia Southern, she shot a combined 36.4 percent. Against the Eagles, she scored a game-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and tallied game-highs in assists (7) and steals (3). Her only downfall was a game-high 5 turnovers.

“I think it’s always good to have Zee on the court,” Gregory said. “She makes everybody around her better, and, she was able to, you know, attack gaps and get me some open shots, so, of course, you know, I love that. But just having her on the offensive and defensive end helps us out a lot.”

What’s next?

The Knights will embark on a three-game road trip before Christmas, first playing at Boston University on Wednesday. UCF will then play the UC Davis Aggies on Dec. 17 and the Pacific Tigers on Dec. 20.

Knights Becoming More Consistent on ‘Day-by-day’ Basis

Through the Knights’ first nine games of the season, they’ve teetered on the edge of being above .500 and not. With the win over Georgia Southern, UCF rises above an even .500 record for the third time this season.

“I think that’s just something we’ll go about day by day,” Gregory said. “Just approaching every game with the mentality that we need to work hard and, ultimately, win the game. But it’s just a game-by-game thing. I think the biggest thing for us is not to get hung up on, ‘Oh, we lost four games,’ or, ‘Oh, we won a game.’ Like, we need to move onto the next game, focus on whatever’s ahead of us.”

For Abrahamson-Henderson, it starts with being injury-free. The Knights are without forwards Tolulope Omokore, who was sidelined for the season before the season-opener, and Fifi Ndour, who injured her knee in the win over the Northern Iowa Panthers on Nov. 26. Saunders also missed five games because of a foot injury, and Gregory missed the game against Samford University.

“We gotta stay injury-free; that would be first,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “And then we just gotta—like I said, everybody has to give to this team some way or the other, in terms of their roles… Their roles have changed, and so no we’re replaying what they need to do. People have to step up differently, now—now that we don’t have Tolu, now that we don’t have Fifi. You know, those are huge shoes to fill.

“You know, I talked about December. We just gotta take care of one game at a time in December. We are not worried about January or February or March at all. We just gotta take care of December, get, really, a lot better in December.”

Highlights

She’s got 6 of our 7 points thanks to plays like this! #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/YT5DyyjRHx

— UCF Women’s Hoops (@UCF_WBB) December 10, 2017

Z knows that defense leads to offense!

Just watch 👇 pic.twitter.com/BRec5mcS3v

— UCF Women’s Hoops (@UCF_WBB) December 10, 2017

These two each scored 16 points today and they have a message for Knight Nation! #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/McBFU6Iyrf

— UCF Women’s Hoops (@UCF_WBB) December 10, 2017

NDR Notes

• UCF, now, trails Georgia Southern 12-6 in the overall record.
• Gregory returned to action after not playing in a 58-51 loss to Samford on Nov. 30 and scored a game-high 16 points.
• For the second time this season, Gregory and Saunders started together. This was the third time both players have been available together. Each scored 16 points.
• Kaba recorded a career-high 11 rebounds. Her previous high was 10.

Scoring

Statistics and Starting Lineups

Team Leaders

Team Statistics

Shooting Percentages

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

Georgia Southern Eagles starting lineup: Amira Atwater (G), Nakol Franks (G), Rhein Beamon (G), Alexis Foulks (F), Hailey Dias-Allen (F)

For more on the Knights, as they prepare for a three-game road trip, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.