Apart from losing blemishes to the No. 1- and No. 2-seeded teams in the American Athletic Conference, the UCF Knights have had a good showing in conference play this season.
Most recently, the UCF Knights beat the Houston Cougars 64-59 at H&PE Arena in front of 1,099 fans on Feb. 24. With their most recent win, the Knights (19-9, 11-4 in AAC) have solidified the No. 3 seed in the 2017-18 AAC Tournament.
Houston’s Angela Harris drained a free throw for Houston to break a 55-55 tie with 4:48 to play, but that’s when the Knights started their game-winning run. UCF out-scored the Cougars 9-3 in the final four-and-a-half minutes, as Kayla Thigpen and Zakiya Saunders opened the run with back-to-back jumpers.
Serithia Hawkins responded with a 2-point jumper after a missed Saunders 3 to cut UCF’s lead to just one point, but Wright drained her first 3-point attempt to elevate the Knights’ lead to four, effectively ending the game.
The Knights started the game with a 32-19, halftime lead, as they shot 51.7 percent in the first half, but Houston clawed its way back into the game. In the second half, the Cougars out-scored the Knights in each of the final quarters, scoring a game-high 24 points in the third.
Houston nearly doubled its 29.2 percent field-goal percentage from the first half to 51.9 percent in the second half. Jasmyne Harris led the Cougars off the bench with a game-high 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, four rebounds and three assists.
For UCF, three players scored in double-digits, as Wright led with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Wright added four assists and two rebounds in her game-high 39 minutes. Saunders had 16 points and seven rebounds, and freshman Masseny Kaba tallied 11 points and nine rebounds.
For more on the Knights, as they play their regular-season home finale on Monday, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.
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