KANSAS CITY, MO — Four Knights scored in double digits to help guide the UCF women’s basketball team (12-17) to a round one win in the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship against BYU (13-17), 81-69, Wednesday afternoon in the T-Mobile Center.
The two teams battled back and forth for the majority of the contest with the Cougars coming out of the first quarter with a two-point lead, 22-20, and the Knights holding a four-point lead at the half, 33-29.
The Cougars came out and quickly scored and took the lead within just one minute of the third quarter and they would maintain the lead until Kaitlin Peterson sank a three with just 40 seconds left in the third, giving UCF a one-point lead, 58-57. Peterson racked up 12 points in the quarter, going 5-for-7 from the field.
Peterson continued to string together points, scoring seven points within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter while keeping BYU scoreless. The Knights used an 8-0 run to push the lead to nine and UCF would go on to record 23 points in the final quarter, with 13 of those coming from Peterson, as the Black and Gold cruised to the program’s first Big 12 Championship win, 81-69.
Peterson led the squad with 35 points, marking her fifth 30-plus point game this season, which ranks second in the Big 12 conference just behind Iowa State’s Audi Cooks with six. Freshman Emely Rodriguez tallied 15 points along with four assists and eight rebounds. Khyala Ngodu notched 12 points with eight rebounds and Achol Akot recorded 10 points and eight rebounds.
Up Next:
The Knights advanced to the second round of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship with a matchup against No. 5 seeded Kansas State on Thursday inside T-Mobile Center and the tournament will continue through Sunday. Go to _ ucfknights.com or big12sports.com _ for more information.
Here is the box score:
UCF 81, BYU 69
UCF (12-17)
Kaitlin Peterson 12-21 9-12 35, Emely Rodriguez 6-17 2-4 15, Khyala Ngodu 4-11 4-4 12, Achol Akot 5-8 0-0 10, Nevaeh Brown 2-6 0-0 4, Lucie Castagne 0-0 2-2 2, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 1-1 0-0 2, Adeang Ring 0-1 1-2 1, Ally Stedman 0-0 0-0 0, Summer Yancy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 30-65 18-24 81.
BYU (13-17)
Delaney Gibb 5-17 3-4 15, Amari Whiting 5-11 2-4 14, Kemery Congdon 4-9 0-0 11, Emma Calvert 3-4 2-2 9, Brinley Cannon 2-3 0-0 5, Kendra Gillispie 3-8 4-8 10, Lauren Davenport 1-1 0-0 3, Heather Hamson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals _ 24-54 11-1869.
UCF 20 13 25 23 _ 81
BYU 22 7 28 12 _ 69
3-point field goals _ UCF 3-10 (Peterson 2-3, Rodriguez 1-3, Brown 0-3, Akot 0-1); BYU 10-21 (Congdon 3-7, Gibb 2-8, Whiting 2-2, Cannon 1-2, Calvert 1-1, Davenport 1-1). Team fouls _ UCF 16; BYU 19. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ UCF 40 (Ngodu, Akot, Rodriguez 8 each, Chandler-Roberts 5); BYU 30 (Whiting, Davenport 5 each). Turnovers _ UCF 14; BYU 18. Assists _ UCF 11 (Rodriguez 4, Ngodu 2); BYU 4 (Congdon 4, Gibb 3, Whiting 2). Steals _ UCF 12 (Peterson, Rodriguez, Brown 3 each, Akot 2); BYU 5 (Gibb, Whiting, Congdon, Calvert, Davenport). Blocked shots _ UCF 4 (Akot 2); BYU 5 (Calvert 2).
