ORLANDO — With standout performances across the board, the UCF women’s basketball team (8-12 overall, 1-9 Big 12) powered past the Houston Cougars (5-17, 1-10), 70-56 Saturday in Addition Financial Arena to claim their first victory in Big 12 Conference play this season.
Kaitlin Peterson exploded with 21 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 28 points, and Achol Akot tied her career-high in rebounds with 14. Nevaeh Brown (15) and Ally Stedman (11) each scored 11 points in the second half, Achol Akot (6 points) tied her career-high in rebounds with 14 and Brown also had five assists, as the Knights added a conference victory to the Black and Gold’s win column.
“I always tell my players, it’s not what happened to you, it’s how you respond in life,” said UCF Head Coach Sytia Messer. “And we’ve taken some punches this season. We’ve never complained, and we’ve never made excuses. All we talked about was getting better and stacking days. And we know when you do things and you err on the right side of life, things happen.”
The Knights struggled early as the Cougars jumped out to a 7-1 lead thanks in part to a pair of layups and free throws from Summer Bostock and Peyton McFarland. Peterson then responded with seven points of her own to keep UCF hanging early as the quarter ended 15-12 in favor of Houston.
The second quarter featured Peterson putting on a show, as she shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc for 13 points to bring her total points tally to 21 at halftime. Mahogany Chandler-Roberts’ four rebounds helped to fuel the fire as the Knights took a 31-26 advantage into the half.
The Black and Gold came out of the locker room after halftime on a mission, as Brown’s two three-pointers and three assists, coupled with Akot’s seven rebounds, led to a 14-0 run in the middle of the quarter that left UCF leading 50-38 going into the fourth.
The Knights opened the fourth quarter with Stedman and Houston’s Gigi Cook exchanging three-pointers, and Stedman kept her hot hand going, adding a layup and another three-pointer to give UCF a 13-point advantage. Brown chipped in with five more points and 6-foot-5 freshman Adeang Ring helped maintain the momentum with three rebounds to keep the game out of reach of Houston. With 34 seconds on the clock, Peterson slammed in a three-pointer to ice the game, as UCF secured the victory with a final score of 70-56.
Up Next:
The Knights will look to continue their upward trend on the road as they travel to Provo, Utah, tonight (Wednesday) to face BYU at 9 p.m. at the Marriott Center before heading to Salt Lake City to tackle Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed by ESPN+.
Here is the box score:
UCF 70, Houston 56
Houston (5-17, 1-10)
Laila Blaie 7-16 2-2 19, Summer Bostock 4-9 3-3 12, Kierra Merchant 3-11 1-1 9, Peyton McFarland 3-11 2-2 8, Gia Cooke 3-13 1-2 8. Totals _ 20-60 9-10 56.
UCF (8-12, 1-9)
Kaitlin Peterson 10-21 3-4 28, Nevaeh Brown 5-15 3-3 15, Ally Stedman 4-6 0-0 11, Achol Akot 3-5 0-0 6, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 1-3 0-0 2, Khyala Ngodu 2-4 0-0 4, Adeang Ring 2-4 0-0 4, Lucie Castagne 0-2 0-0 0. Totals _ 27-60 6-7 70.
Houston 15 11 12 18 _ 56
UCF 12 19 19 20 _ 70
3-point field goals _ Houston 9-28 (Blair 3-10, Merchant 2-6, Cooke 1-6, Bostock 1-6); UCF 10-21 (Peterson 5-10, Stedman 3-5, Brown 2-5, Castagne 0-1). Team fouls _ Houston 9; UCF 16. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ Houston 32 (McFarland 9, Merchant 8, Bostock 6, Cooke 5); UCF 43 (Akot 14, Ngodu 7, Chandler-Roberts 6, Ring 5). Turnovers _ Houston 10; UCF 12. Assists _ Houston 11 (Cooke 6, Merchant, Blair 2 each); UCF 13 (Brown 5, Akot 3, Ring 2). Steals _ Houston 5 (Fontleroy 2); UCF 2 (Peterson, Akot). Blocked shots _ Houston 4 (Vonleh 2); UCF 4 (Ngodu 2).
