Feb. 24, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Senior Francine Houston (Bradenton, Fla./Southeast HS) scored a team-high 16 points as the UCF women's basketball team dropped a 76-57 decision to Conference USA rival East Carolina in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.
With an 8-21 overall record and a 3-13 mark in C-USA, the Golden Knights finished 11th in the league standings and await the results from games later in the day to determine their first round opponent in the 2007 Conference USA Championship. ECU, meanwhile, improved to 16-13 overall and 11-5 in C-USA.
Both teams shot over 40% from the floor in the opening five minutes of game before the Lady Pirates took over on an 8-1 run off a lay-up by sophomore LaCoya Terry. Houston attempted to spark UCF's offense with a three-pointer at 10:41, but ECU continued to pull away, going up 37-24 at the half.
The Golden Knights matched East Carolina basket-for-basket in the first five minutes of the second period until sophomore guard Jessica Slack and senior center Cherie Mills scored back-to-back lay-ups to once again jumpstart the ECU offense. The Lady Pirates eventually increased the margin to a game-high 24 points, 68-44, on a jumper by sophomore guard Gabriela Husarova with 7:09 remaining to play.
After shooting 27.3% from the field in the first half, UCF finished the game at 34.4%, while ECU hit 48.5% from the floor. UCF senior Keunta Miles (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./South Broward HS) finished the afternoon with 15 points and tied junior guard Amber Long (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork HS) with a team-high eight rebounds.
Terry led all players with 24 points, with 20 coming in the first half, while junior forward Nicole Days posted a game-high 12 rebounds.
The 2007 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Aéoropostale, takes place in Tulsa, Okla. from March 1-4. The tournament bracket, including all seedings and game times, is scheduled to be released by the league office on Sunday, Feb. 25.
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