ORLANDO — Five Knights recorded double-digits in points to guide the UCF women’s basketball team to an 89-58 victory over Stetson Saturday evening in Addition Financial Arena.
“Having five players in double digits, shows that we showed up today,” said UCF Head Coach Sytia Messer. “We were ready to go from the start of the game.”
UCF (3-0) took control from the jump going up 21-0 over the Hatters (2-2) in the first seven minutes of the game as Ally Stedman led the Knights off with a three-pointer to open up the game. It wouldn’t be until under two minutes left in the quarter that the guests would put in their first bucket of the game on a 3-pointer from Cameron Thomas and the Knights would go to the break with a dominant 24-5 lead at the end of the first.
“Before the game I talked to the team about getting an early start and they did just that,” said Messer. “I’m proud of them for their fight today.”
The Black and Gold slowed down in the second quarter as six turnovers aided Stetson in scoring 16 points. Still, a layup from Hannah Gusters reignited the team’s offense sending them on a 5-0 scoring run to end the half, giving the hosts a 23-point lead to end the half, 44-21.
The Knights stretched their lead to 30 in the third quarter with a 14-2 run over the final five minutes of the quarter. UCF finished strong offensively with Summer Yancy recording seven of her 14 points in the final quarter.
The Knights outrebounded Stetson 48-33 while also forcing 20 turnovers. Achol Akot led the squad with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Emely Rodriguez (15), Yancy (14), Gusters (12) and Stedman (10). Both Lucie Castagne and Nevaeh Brown ran the offense with five assists a piece.
Thomas led the Hatters with 18 points, including a season-high four three-pointers, in the losing effort.
Quentarra Mitchell and Tiasia McMillan each chipped in eight points and four rebounds. Mary McMillan added six points and a season-high seven assists, while Noga Haran led the bench with six points, including two made threes.
Next Up:
UCF hosted North Florida in a rare morning game on Tuesday and will continue a season-opening home stand against Southern Illinois (SIUE) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday again FAMU at 1 p.m. Both games will streamed on ESPN+.
Stetson also played on Tuesday, hosting FAU before taking off for Thanksgiving.
Here is the box score:
UCF 89, Stetson 58
Stetson (2-2)
Cameron Thomas 6-13 2-2 18, Tiasia McMillan 4-12 0-0 8, Quentarra Mitchell 4-8 0-0 8, Mary McMillan 3-5 0-0 6, Shelby Calhoun 1-3 0-0 3, Noga Haran 2-5 0-0 6, Raven LeXander 2-6 0-0 4, Jorah Eppley 1-3 0-0 3, Promise Keshi 1-10 0-0 2, Cristina Gil Abad 0-0 0-0 0, Eva Bradshaw 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-66 2-2 58.
UCF (3-0)
Achol Akot 9-12 1-1 19, Emely Rodriguez 5-16 5-6 15, Hannah Gusters 5-11 2-3 12, Ally Stedman 4-9 0-0 10, Nevaeh Brown 1-5 0-0 2, Summer Yancy 5-9 2-4 14, Lucie Castagne 2-3 0-0 5, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 2-3 1-1 5, Khyala Ngodu 2-4 0-0 4, Adeang Ring 1-1 1-2 3. Totals _ 36-73 12-17 89.
Stetson 5 16 13 24 _ 58
UCF 24 20 21 24 _ 89
3-point field goals _ Stetson 8-25 (Thomas 4-6, Haran 2-3, Eppley 1-3, Calhoun 1-2, McMillan 0-4, Mitchell 0-3, Keshi 0-2, LeXander 0-1, Bradshaw 0-1); UCF 5-16 (Stedman 2-6, Yancy 2-4, Castagne 1-2, Rodriguez 0-3, Brown 0-1). Team fouls _ Stetson 16; UCF 7. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ Stetson 33 (Calhoun 5); UCF 48 (Akot 11, Yancy 9, Rodriguez 8). Turnovers _ Stetson 20; UCF 15. Assists _ Stetson 16 (McMillian 7); UCF 19 (Brown, Castagne 5 each, Rodriguez 4). Steals _ Stetson 8 (Mitchell, Keshi 2 each); UCF 13 (Castagne 5, Akot, Rodriguez 2 each). Blocked shots _ Stetson 1 (Calhoun); UCF 6 (Akot, Yancy 2 each).
