Nov. 9, 2005
ORLANDO - Yolanda McCormick scored 27 points and Chavnivia Broussard added 20 more as the Miami Suns defeated the UCF women's basketball team, 67-62, in an overtime exhibition game at UCF Arena on Wednesday night.
The Golden Knights went down by as much as 20 points in the opening four minutes of the second half before starting to chip away at the Suns' lead. A jumper by UCF freshman center Jackie Akers with 7:42 remaining in regulation sparked a 14-0 run that ended with two successful free throws by senior forward Shelby Weber and tied the game at 51 all.
McCormick hit two foul shots at 3:45 but sophomore guard Francine Houston sank a three-pointer 18 seconds later that gave the Golden Knights their first lead since the opening basket.
UCF tried to stay in front and looked to earn a one-point victory until McCormick hit her own three-pointer with just two seconds left on the clock to knot the score at 59 and the send the game into the extra session.
Miami outscored UCF by a 7-3 margin in the overtime to earn the win.
UCF shot well in the first half going 13-for-32 (40.6%), but allowed the Suns score 40 points on 15-for-21 shooting (71.4%) from the field. Miami's percentage dropped to 25% (6-for-25) in the second half as the Golden Knights, who went 10-for-27 (37.0%), gave up only 19 points.
The Golden Knights outrebounded the visitors by a margin of 50-35 on the evening. Junior forward Keunta Miles was one rebound short of a double-double as she scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards. Sophomore guard Amber Long led UCF with 11 total points.
"It doesn't matter who we are playing, we always want to get the win," said UCF head coach Gail Striegler. "We failed to execute our game plan tonight. We'll have to learn from our mistakes and put that knowledge to good use when we open up the regular season."
The Golden Knights make their regular season debut against Florida A&M in the opening round of the UCF Golden Knights Classic on Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m.