ORLANDO — The UCF women’s basketball team fell to High Point 64-60 Tuesday night in Addition Financial Arena to wrap up their non-conference slate.
The Knights (7-3) got off to a slow start in their first home game since November 24, and first game of any kind in nine days, but bested the Panthers (5-7) in rebounds at 39 to High Point’s 23, and assists with 20 to their 16.
The Black and Gold, who were also playing without leading scorer Kaitlin Peterson and No. 2 rebounds Achol Akot, opened the scoring for the first quarter with a layup by Khayla Ngodu and the team’s traded scores, before High Point went on a 7-0 scoring run to turn a 13-13 tie into a 20-13 lead. The run was ended by two free throws made by Hannah Gusters and the quarter ended with the hosts down by three, 22-19.
The second quarter opened with the two teams going back-and-forth as Ngodu tied the game at 25. Shortly after, the Panthers used a 14-0 run over 6-minutes that gave the guests a comfortable, 39-25 lead. The Knights’ Lucie Castagne ended the run with a three-point jumper as HPU headed into the locker with the lead, 41-28.
Ngodu continued to stay strong, opening the scoring in the third quarter by netting her 10th point of the night. Emely Rodriguez was able to net the only three-pointer of the quarter and the Black and Gold scored on five of their last seven field goals of the quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers continued to hold a 13-point lead, 59-46.
The Knights finally started clicking in the fourth and quickly cut the deficit behind Gusters and Ngodu, who notched six and eight points, respectively, to get within one point, 61-60, with 3:02 remaining.
After holding the Panthers to just two points for over seven minutes of the fourth quarter, but a High Point free throw by Aaliyah Collins with 2:35 left, pushed the lead back to two.
The UCF comeback looked to be complete when the Knights grabbed an offensive rebound that would have tied the game with 1:12 remaining, but the putback was missed and HPU clinched the victory with a made layup with 14-seconds left.
The Panthers, who had four player finish in double figure scoring, hit their first nine shots of the game and hit a remarkable 12 3-pointers in the game, led by Nevaeh Zavala, who scored her team’s first 11 points and finished 5-for-7 on 3-pointers for a team-high 19 points.
Ngodu hit 10-of-12 field goal attempts and led the Knights offense with a game-high 22 points, her highest of the season. She also led in rebounds at 12, marking her first double-double of the season. Gusters also tallied double digits in scoring with 17. Rodriguez and Ngodu each dished out five assists.
Up Next:
UCF is back in action at Addition Financial Arena today (Saturday) to open Big 12 play against No. 12 TCU (11-1) at 2 p.m. The UCF men will also be in action at 6 p.m. against Jacksonville and both games, which are the final home games for both in the calendar year, will be streamed on ESPN+.
Here is the box score:
High Point 64, UCF 60
High Point (5-7)
Nevaeh Zavala 7-10 0-0 19, Jaleesa Lawrence 4-10 0-0 11, Nakyah Terrell 4-7 0-0 11, Aaliyah Collins 3-8 4-6 10, Chana Paxixe 1-2 0-0 2, Dom Nesland 1-9 2-2 5, Anna Hager 2-6 0-0 4, Lauren Scott 1-1 0-0 2, Shakira Baskerville 0-1 0-0 0, Ariana Wilkes 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Larios 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 23-54 6-8 64.
UCF (7-3)
Khyala Ngodu 10-12 2-3 22, Hannah Gusters 7-9 3-4 17, Ally Stedman 3-10 0-0 7, Emely Rodriguez 2-10 0-0 5, Nevaeh Brown 0-8 0-0 0, Summer Yancy 2-4 0-0 4, Lucie Castagne 1-1 0-0 3, Mahogany Chandler-Roberts 1-2 0-0 2. Totals _ 26-56 5-7 60.
High Point 22 19 18 5 _ 64
UCF 17 11 18 14 _ 60
3-point field goals _ HPU 12-30 (Zavala 5-7, Lawrence 3-8, Terrell 3-6, Nesland 1-6, Collins 0-1, Paxixe 0-1, Hager 0-1); UCF 3-10 (Stedman 1-5, Rodriguez 1-1, Castagne 1-1, Brown 0-1, Yancy 0-1, Chandler-Roberts 0-1). Team fouls _ HPU 9; UCF 10. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ HPU 23 (Nesland 6, Lawrence 4); UCF 39 (Ngodu 12, Rodriguez 7, Gusters 5). Turnovers _ HPU 12; UCF 16. Assists _ HPU 16 (Terrell 4, Lawrence 3); UCF 20 (Ngodu, Rodriguez 5 each, Stedman, Brown 4 each). Steals _ HPU 7 (Lawrence, Hager 2 each); UCF 5 (Rodriguez 2). Blocked shots _ HPU 1 (Lawrence); UCF 3 (Ngodu, Gusters, Yancy).
