ORLANDO — The UCF women’s basketball team won a hard-fought contest Saturday afternoon in Addition Financial Arena, topping Texas Tech, 61-60.
Texas Tech (14-15 overall, 3-13 Big 12) led the game in assists 15-9 and outrebounded UCF (10-16, 3-13 Big 12) 37-33. However, the Knights swung the game defensively, tallying seven blocks and forcing 18 turnovers,which led to 19 points.
The Lady Raiders got off to a fast start, knocking down a three-pointer on their first possession of the game, which kick-started the visitors to their largest lead of the game, 11-5. Late in the first, Kaitlin Peterson turned on the burners for the Knights, sinking a three and igniting a 7-0 run and a 13-12 deficit after one quarter of play.
Momentum slowed in the second quarter, with the Black and Gold only netting eight points, marking their lowest-scoring quarter this season. However, a strong defensive performance offset the slow-moving offense, with UCF forcing five turnovers in six minutes, allowing it to lead by one, 20-19, heading into the locker room.
The Knights started the second half renewed offensively, pouring in nine points in the first minute and a half thanks to a series of Lady Raiders’ turnovers that generated fast break points by Peterson and Emely Rodriguez. Texas Tech refused to let go of the game, trading points back and forth throughout the quarter, cutting the UCF lead to two, 43-41, at the end the third quarter.
A Texas Tech ‘and one’ pushed them up by one to start the final quarter, but Khyala Ngodu answered with a jumper. The Knights maintained their edge until a two-minute scoring drought led to a 5-0 run and Texas Tech took the lead by one again, 54-53.
Rodriguez ended the drought by sinking two free throws, and Peterson added on with back-to-back buckets in the last minute. In a last-ditch effort, the Lady Raiders made a final three with under a second left in the game, but Ngodu had already put the game to bed by sinking a free throw with 3.1-seconds left to put the Knights up by four.
Peterson led the day with 20 points, marking her eighth consecutive double-digit game and her 11th game this season with 20 or more points. Ngodu added 13 points along with seven rebounds.
Up Next:
The Knights wrapped up their home season with Senior Knight on Tuesday against Iowa State. The team will close out the regular season on Sunday at Houston. Tip is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
Here is the box score:
UCF 61, Texas Tech 60
Texas Tech (14-15, 3-13)
Jasmine Shavers 6-15 2-2 19, Bailey Maupin 3-11 3-3 10, Denae Fritz 3-8 0-0 8, Kilah Freelon 3-4 0-2 6, Sarengbe Sanogo 1-4 0-2 2, Loghan Johnson 3-4 1-2 7, Maya Peat 2-6 0-0 4, Jada Wynn 1-3 0-0 2, Jalynn Bristow 0-0 2-2 2, Adlee Blacklock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 22-55 8-13 60.
UCF (10-16, 3-13)
Kaitlin Peterson 8-23 3-4 20, Khyala Ngodu 5-6 3-5 13, Emely Rodriguez 3-9 3-4 9, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 2-2 3-4 7, Nevaeh Brown 1-5 1-2 3, Achol Akot 3-3 1-1 7, Adeang Ring 1-3 0-0 2, Lucie Castagne 0-0 0-0 0, Ally Stedman 0-2 0-0 0, Summer Yancy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals _ 23-54 14-20 61.
Texas Tech 13 6 22 19 _ 60
UCF 12 8 23 18 _ 61
3-point field goals _ Texas Tech 9-22 (Shavers 5-9, Fritz 2-7, Maupin 1-6, Wynn 0-2); UCF 1-11 (Peterson 1-3, Rodriguez 0-2, Brown 0-2, Stedman 0-2, Ring 0-1, Yancy 0-1). Team fouls _ Texas Tech 18; UCF 19. Fouled out _ Texas Tech (Freelon). Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ Texas Tech 37 (Freelon 9, Peat 6, Shavers 5); UCF 33 (Akot 8, Ngodu 7, Rodriguez 5). Turnovers _ Texas Tech 18; UCF 16. Assists _ Texas Tech 15 (Maupin 5, Fritz, Johnson, Peat 2 each); UCF 9 (Peterson 4, Brown, Akot 2 each). Steals _ Texas Tech 5 (Johnson 2); UCF 7 (Peterson, Akot 2 each). Blocked shots _ Texas Tech 1 (Freelon); UCF 7 (Rodriguez 2).
