ORLANDO — The UCF women’s basketball team honored five seniors in the final home game of the season, but were unable to overcome Iowa State’s scoring ways, 98-73.
The Knights (10-17, 3-14 Big 12) found some rhythm on the offensive side of the ball, but couldn’t compete with the Cyclones’ (20-10, 11-6 Big 12) high-scoring and defensive strength as they tied their highest shooting percentage of the season (57.1%).
Prior to the game, seniors Kaitlin Peterson, Nevaeh Brown, Ally Stedman, Lucie Castagne and Taylor Gibson were recognized for their contributions to the program.
Khayla Ngodu won the tip to start the game, and it led to Peterson sinking the first field goal of the night. But that didn’t bother the Cyclones as they answered with a 9-0 scoring run. The game settled down a little bit, but with Iowa State leading 15-8, the Black and Gold went on an 8-2 run to cut the dificit to just one point, 17-16, with 1:51 left in the opening period.
However, the Cyclones would end the quarter on a 6-0 run (23-16) and would extend that outburst to 11-0 as they built an 12-point lead, 28-16, with 7:55 remaining in the half, and would extend their margin to 17 points, 44-27, at the halftime break.
UCF would get as close as 12 points (49-37) with 6:32 left in the third, but the period would end with both teams scoring 25 points and the guests holding a 69-52 advantage.
The Knights would get no closer than 18 the rest of the way as the home season came to a close.
Freshman Emely Rodriguez set a career-high with a jumper late in the fourth hitting 21 points on the night. Peterson poured in 20 points on the night, making it her 25th game in her UCF career to meet that feat. Brown was the final Knight to hit double digits with 11. Ngodu led the team with nine rebounds while Brown dished out four assists.
Up Next:
UCF will finish the regular season when they travel to Houston to take on the Cougars at the Fertitta Center on Sunday with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be streamed by ESPN+. The Knights will then head to the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday.
Here is the box score:
Iowa State 98, UCF 73
Iowa State (20-10, 11-6)
Audi Crooks 9-12 11-13 29, Addy Brown 7-10 6-7 20, Emily Ryan 6-10 3-4 16, Arianna Jackson 3-7 1-2 9, Kelsey Joens 1-4 4-4 7, Sydney Harris 4-6 1-2 12, Lily Hansford 1-2 0-0 3, Alisa Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Aili Tanke 0-1 0-0 0, Reagan Wilson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals _ 32-56 26-32 98.
UCF (10-17, 3-14)
Kaitlin Peterson 8-20 3-5 20, Nevaeh Brown 4-12 0-0 11, Khyala Ngodu 1-4 3-4 5, Ally Stedman 1-6 0-0 3, Lucie Castagne 0-1 0-0 0, Emely Rodriguez 8-11 4-4 21, Achol Akot 2-3 3-4 7, Adeang Ring 2-5 0-0 4, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 1-2 0-0 2, Summer Yancy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals _ 27-65 13-17 73.
Iowa State 23 21 25 29 _ 98
UCF 16 11 25 21 _ 73
3-point field goals _ Iowa State 8-20 (Harris 3-5, Jackson 2-5, Ryan 1-3, Jones 1-3, Hansford 1-2, Brown 0-2); UCF 6-21 (Brown 3-8, Peterson 1-4, Stedman 1-3, Rodriguez 1-2, Ring 0-2, Yancy 0-1, Castagne 0-1). Team fouls _ Iowa State 13; UCF 123. Fouled out _ UCF (Chandler-Roberts). Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ Iowa State 39 (Brown 9, Crooks 8, Ryan 5); UCF 28 (Ngodu 9). Turnovers _ Iowa State 9; UCF 10. Assists _ Iowa State 18 (Crooks, Brown, Ryan 4 each, Jackson 3); UCF 11 (Brown 4, Rodriguez 2). Steals _ Iowa State 7 (Ryan 2); UCF 5 (Ring 2). Blocked shots _ Iowa State 5 (Ryan 2); UCF 3 (Akot 2).
