Jan. 15, 2006
ORLANDO - Senior LaShay King hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds to play to give the UCF women's basketball team the final edge in its 51-46 defeat of Conference USA rival UTEP in front of a record-breaking crowd of 1,182 fans at UCF Arena on Sunday afternoon.
It was the second consecutive conference win for the Golden Knights as they improved to 4-12 overall and 2-3 in C-USA. The Miners dropped to 10-7, 2-3 C-USA.
"Our girls played hard and put up a great effort," said UCF head coach Gail Striegler. "We really benefited from the energy of the crowd."
Neither team had netted a field goal in the opening four and half minutes of the game when UCF sophomore guard Amber Long sank the first of her game-high 12 points on a three-point play to give the home team a 5-4 lead.
The two squads continued to play tight throughout the first half. UTEP took a game-high seven-point lead for the second time at the 11:15 mark and again at 7:32 before the Golden Knights eventually tied the score 23 remaining until the intermission on layup by senior forward Shelby Weber.
Finishing the half on a 6-2 run, the Miners owned a 29-25 advantage at the intermission.
After a quick bucket by UTEP sophomore center Izabela Piekarska (10 points) early in the second period, UCF regained the lead on a 9-4 run that was capped off by Long's layup at 13:58.
The teams continued to battle for ownership of the scoreboard, though. The Miners were up 40-37 with 12:13 remaining to play when the Golden Knights scored seven unanswered points, including a three-pointer by junior center Elizabeth Fieser.
Keeping UCF without a field goal for nearly nine minutes, UTEP tied the score once again on two successful free throws by Piekarska at 1:28. King's trey and two foul shots by senior guard Shayla Smith sealed UCF's victory.
The Golden Knights finished the evening shooting 14-for-55 (25.5%) from the field and hit 19 of 26 chances (73.1%) at the foul line, while the Miners were 18-for-58 (31%) from the floor and made all nine attempts at the charity stripe.
UCF held a slight 43-38 favor on the boards thanks in part to Weber's game-high 10 and Long's career-high eight. Piekarska pulled down a team-high eight for the Miners.
In addition to Long and Piekarska, UCF junior forward Keunta Miles and UTEP senior Ingrid Goslin also contributed 10 points each.
The Golden Knights continue their four-game homestand when they host C-USA rival Marshall on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. in UCF Arena.