Feb. 2, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - East Carolina out-rebounded the UCF women's basketball team 50-32 on Saturday, including 19 offensive rebounds, and broke open a close game to notch an 80-66 win against the Knights in front of a New UCF Arena record crowd of 1,457 fans. Freshman guard Marshay White (Rochester, N.Y.) led the way for UCF, finishing with a team-high 20 points.
The Knights (8-13, 1-7 Conference USA) were within one point, 62-61, with 7:13 left before the Lady Pirates (10-11, 4-4) used a late 8-0 run to extend their lead to nine, 70-61, and put the game away. UCF was out-rebounded for just the eighth time in 21 games this season.
"We did a few good things tonight, but I am disappointed with our rebounding effort," UCF head coach Joi Williams said. "Giving up 19 offensive boards is not going to win very many games, so I think that was basically the story of the game. Rebounding has been something that we have been pretty consistent with all year long. We knew that ECU was a team that really hustled after the boards and made a lot of plays off of offensive rebounds, and they showed that tonight."
White, who eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the second time this season, connected on 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including two three-pointers. Freshman forward Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) followed in the scoring column with 12 points, adding seven rebounds. Freshman forward/center Tia Lewis (Poulan, Ga.), who entered the game as the nation's third-leading rebounder, led the Knights on the boards for the 15th time this season with eight rebounds to complement eight points.
Freshman guard Angelica Mealing (Decatur, Ga.) added nine points and set a new career high with four steals in the game. Freshman guard D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta) also scored nine and came up with two steals.
The Knights shot 40.0 percent (26-of-65) from the floor, while East Carolina shot 46.0 percent (29-of-63) from the field. UCF received a strong performance from its bench for the fifth consecutive game as the Knights' reserves out-scored the ECU bench 27-17. UCF showed improvement in its ball handling, committing just 18 turnovers, its second-fewest in a conference game this season.
"I have been encouraged by the way our team is playing," Williams said. "I was very encouraged on Thursday. Tonight, I am a little disappointed because I didn't think our rebounding would break down like that. Rebounding is something that we have to be consistent with. Defensively, we just didn't get stops when we needed to."
The Knights broke out to a 7-2 advantage to begin the game after a basket by Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) and a three-pointer from Mealing on back-to-back plays. East Carolina, however, responded with a 14-0 run to go ahead 16-7 with 13:01 left in the opening period. The Lady Pirates hit two three-pointers during that span before ealing knocked down a jumper at the 11:18 mark to stop UCF's five-minute scoring drought.
From there, ECU used a 10-6 run to push its lead out to 11, 26-15, with 8:04 left until intermission. The Knights then scored eight consecutive points capped off by a three-point play from White at the 6:23 mark to come within three, 26-23. UCF kept battling to come within one, 29-28, after a three-point play by Cannon with 3:47 remaining.
East Carolina took a 38-34 advantage into the locker room at intermission. The Knights shot 43.8 percent (14-of-32) from the floor in the opening period, while the Lady Pirates connected on 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from the field. The two teams were nearly even in every statistical category, except rebounding as ECU held a 19-11 edge on the glass.
Out of intermission, Cannon scored on back-to-back baskets to knot the score at 38-all with 19:05 remaining in the game. The Lady Pirates missed each of their first five shots in the second half. After a three-point play by White gave the Knights their first lead of the second half at 41-40, East Carolina connected on three consecutive baskets to reclaim the lead at 47-41 with 14:40 left.
UCF then went on a 6-2 run to whittle its deficit down to two, 49-47, with 13:06 to go in the game. The Lady Pirates pushed their advantage out to nine, 57-48, at the 10:56 mark, before the Knights used a 9-0 run over the next 2:02 to tie the score at 57-57. The two teams traded baskets until East Carolina used a late 8-0 run to clinch the victory.
UCF returns to action Thursday when it plays host to UAB in the third-game of a four-game homestand. Tip-off in the New UCF Arena is slated for 7 p.m. EST and the game will be carried live on UCFAthletics.com with Scott Adams.
UCF will play host to the 2008 Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament, March 6-9, at the new UCF Arena. Single-game and session ticket packages are now available. Call the UCFAA Ticket Sales Office at 407-823-1000. For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.