The UCF women’s basketball team finished off the regular season in style as they beat the No. 13 USF Bulls 58-45 at Addition Financial Arena on Thursday.
The Knights came into the night off the heels of a heartbreaking last-second 65-62 loss to the Bulls Tuesday night at the Yuengling Center in Tampa.
It was a pretty slow start in the first quarter as the Knights could only manage 4 points after seven minutes of play.
Things soon turned around as the Knights jumped out to an 18-8 lead by the end of the first quarter after 14 unanswered points thanks to UCF’s No. 3 ranked scoring defense.
The Knights’ scored 23 points off turnovers to the Bulls’ 6 points by the end of regulation.
The Knights were able to maintain the lead by boxing out their competition outside the paint and limiting their War on I-4 rivals to make only 20% of their field goal attempts in the first half — the Knights’ held on to a 9-point 32-23 lead after two periods of play.
While the Bulls were able to cut into the lead within the first couple minutes of the third quarter, the Knights proved to be too dominant on the defensive end of the ball forcing the Bulls to shoot 14-of-55 from the field and 7-of-22 from beyond the arc. The Knights ended the game shooting 22-of-46 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
UCF senior forward Masseny Kaba led the way for the offense at the end of the first half going 5-of-11 for 12 points and adding 5 rebounds on senior night and her final home game for the Knights.
Kaba finished the night with 16 points with 9 rebounds and shooting 7-of-15 from the field, and will finish her time with the Knights’ top ten all-time in rebounds.
Kaba, senior forward Jnaya Walker, and senior guard Courtajia Sanders celebrated their senior season and last home game for UCF in style with the program’s first win against a top 15 team.
With the win, the Knights will improve to 12-2 in the American Athletic Conference and 14-3 overall, while the Bulls will end their season dropping to 12-2 in conference play and 15-3 overall.
The Knights will have to wait for the opening round of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship tournament, which is scheduled to begin March 8 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
