LAWRENCE, KS — The UCF women’s basketball team came up short against Kansas Wednesday night in Legendary Allen Fieldhouse, 63-58.
UCF (9-16, 2-13 Big 12) fought hard until the end, outrebounding Kansas (15-11, 5-10), 40-35, while the Jayhawks executed at the free throw line (25-28).
Kansas got off to a quick 5-0 start but Nevaeh Brown stopped the Jayhawks’ run with a three-pointer. After a scoring drought, the Knights were able to break it open going on an 8-0 scoring spurt with Emely Rodriguez lighting it up with a jumper and a three-pointer. The Jayhawks chipped away at the Knights’ lead but another 6-0 run helped the Black and Gold ensure they had the lead at the end of the quarter, 17-11. Rodriguez tallied nine points, going 4-for-5 from the field in her her first start since her return from injury.
Rodriguez stayed hot, opening the second quarter with a three, but Kansas put together a 7-0 spurt and eventually took the lead, 27-26, but the half ended tied at 31.
It took three-plus-minutes before a three-pointer from Kansas allowed it to take the lead, but Kaitlin Peterson knotted the game up at 34 as both teams began trading points back and forth. Big threes from Ally Stedman and Adeang Ring gave the Knights a 6-0 run late and UCF ended the third quarter with a one-point edge, 47-46.
With five lead changes and the score tied four times, the fourth quarter kept fans on edge. With the game tied at 56 and just 1:41 left in the game, the Jayhawks hit a layup to take the lead, but Khyala Ngodu answered back to knot the game at 58 with 1:20 left, before Kansas scored the game’s final five points, three of them from the charity stripe.
Rodriguez ended the night with 14 points to go along with eight rebounds and two steals. Peterson and Ngodu each tallied 11 points. Peterson also dished out five assists while Ngodu pulled down nine rebounds. Adeang Ring shot an impressive 3-for-4 from the field (1-for-1 on 3’s), adding seven points.
Up Next:
The Knights wrap up their home schedule with two games as they host Texas Tech today (Saturday) at 2 p.m. and Iowa State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Both games at Addition Financial Arena will be streamed by ESPN+.
Here is the box score:
Kansas 63, UCF 58
UCF (9-16, 2-13)
Emely Rodriguez 6-15 0-0 14, Kaitlin Peterson 4-13 2-4 11, Nevaeh Brown 2-11 2-4 8, Achol Akot 1-5 0-0 2, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 1-2 0-0 2, Khyala Ngodu 5-6 1-3 11, Adeang Ring 3-4 0-0 7, Ally Stedman 1-7 0-0 3, Lucie Castagne 0-0 0-0 0, Summer Yancy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 23-63 5-11 58.
Kansas (15-11, 5-10)
S'Mya Nichols 6-12 7-7 20, Elle Evans 3-10 8-8 15, Brittany Harshaw 3-8 4-5 12, Nadira Eltayeb 1-2 2-2 4, Sania Copeland 0-3 1-2 1, Regan Williams 4-6 3-4 11, Danai Papadopoulou 0-1 0-0 0, Laia Conesa 0-3 0-0 0, Carla Osma 0-1 0-0 0. Totals _ 17-46 25-28 63.
UCF 17 14 16 11 _ 58
Kansas 11 20 15 17 _ 63
3-point field goals _ UCF 7-26 (Brown 2-8, Rodriguez 2-6, Stedman 1-6, Peterson 1-5, Ring 1-1); Kansas 4-17 (Harshaw 2-6, Evans 1-5, Nichols 1-3, Conesa 0-2, Osma 0-1). Team fouls _ UCF 21; Kansas 16. Fouled out _ Kansas (Nichols). Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ UCF 40 (Ngodu, Akot 9 each, Rodriguez 8); Kansas 35 (Eltayeb 7, Evans, Harshaw 6 each, Nichols, Conesa 5 each). Turnovers _ UCF 13; Kansas 12. Assists _ UCF 11 (Peterson 5, Ngodu 2); Kansas 9 (Nichols 3, Eltayeb, Copeland 2 each). Steals _ UCF 4 (Rodriguez 2); Kansas 4 (Evans, Eltayeb, Copeland, Conesa). Blocked shots _ UCF 2 (Ring, Ngodu); Kansas 5 (Evans 3).
