Dec. 15, 2008
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) knocked down a three-pointer with 28 seconds left to give UCF (2-7) a 75-71 victory Monday night at Jacksonville (3-5) in non-conference women's basketball action. With the win, UCF ends a six-game slide in the finale of a six-game road trip.
Wiley paced five Knights in double figures with 14 points off the bench. Freshman Aisha Patrick (Rockledge, Fla.) scored all 12 of her points in the second half off the UCF bench, who poured in 30 points total.
"I am proud of our players' effort tonight and the way we played after falling behind early in the second half," said head coach Joi Williams. "We got some much-needed stops on the defensive end, and stepped up and hit some big shots offensively. It is nice to get this win and gain some confidence before heading back home."
The Knights found themselves down 59-51 with 8:13 to play before ripping off a 13-0 run and claiming a 64-59 lead with 4:41 to play on an Amber Kirkpatrick (Lawrenceville, Ga.) three-pointer.
Coutney Jackson gave the Dolphins the lead back on a three of her own, 69-68, with 1:44 on the clock. The teams traded leads again before Wiley's big bucket off an Aisha Patrick assist.
Sophomore Marshay White (Rochester, N.Y.) knocked down a pair of free throws late to seal the game for UCF. In the second half, the Knights connected on 17-of-21 from the charity stripe, and finished 22-for-29 for the game.
Kirkpatrick, playing her first game for UCF after transferring a year ago, had eight points, five rebounds and three blocks in a game-high 33 minutes.
UCF struggled offensively in the opening half and trailed by as many as nine with 12:26 remaining after starting the game 3-for-18 from the field.
However, using a couple of fastbreak buckets from Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) and D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) closed to within two points (27-25) late in the period. The Dolphins scored the last five points of the half, all coming from Courtney Jackson, to lead 32-25 at the break.
Jackson had a game-high 11 points at the break for Jacksonville, who hit 5-of-12 threes in the first half after entering the game having connected on just 23.2 percent. Jackson finished with a game-high 22 points for the Dolphins.
Cannon added 12 points and 10 rebounds for UCF, despite playing just 24 minutes due to foul trouble. White and Daniels also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Knights held a 45-37 edge on the glass, including 25 offensive rebounds which led to 16 second-chance points.
Season tickets for the UCF women's basketball program are currently on sale through the UCF ticket sales office. For more information about the arena's premium seating options, including club seats, group discounts, courtside tables and suites, contact the UCF ticket sales office at (407) UCF-1000 or visit the women's basketball ticket page at UCFAthletics.cstv.com/tickets/w-baskbl-tickets.html.
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Newspaper Box Score
UCF vs Jacksonville
12/15/08 7 p.m. at Jacksonville, Fla. (Swisher Gymnasium)
At Jacksonville, Fla. (Swisher Gymnasium)
UCF 75, JACKSONVILLE 71
UCF (2-7)
Wiley, Chelsie 4-12 5-6 14; Patrick, Aisha 2-4 8-9 12; Cannon, Emma 5-11 2-2 12; White, Marshay 3-7 5-8 11; Daniels, D'Nay 5-13 0-0 10; KIRKPATRICK, Amber 3-11 0-2 8; Mealing, Angelica 2-6 0-0 4; Caldwell, Jelisa 1-3 0-0 2; Paige, Leah 0-0 2-2 2; Davis, Racine 0-0 0-0 0; Stovall, Jasmine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-67 22-29 75.
JACKSONVILLE (3-5)
JACKSON, Coutney 9-18 0-0 22; GREGOIRE, Virginia 5-6 3-4 13; HAMILTON, DaVina 3-12 0-0 7; JOHNSON, Desarae 3-6 1-2 7; WILLIAMS, Ashanti 3-4 0-0 6; GRAY, Danielle 3-6 0-0 6; RICHARDSON, Teneskei 2-4 1-2 5; COLEMAN, Jasmin 1-1 0-0 3; OMOITE, Regina 1-6 0-0 2; PASCHAL, Lynsey 0-1 0-0 0; GRABLE, Crystal 0-0 0-0 0; GEORGE, Jessica 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-64 5-8 71.
UCF........................... 25 50 - 75
Jacksonville.................. 32 39 - 71
3-point goals--UCF 3-6 (Kirkpatrick, Amber 2-5; Wiley, Chelsie 1-1), Jacksonville 6-20 (JACKSON, Coutney 4-10; HAMILTON, DaVina 1-4; COLEMAN, Jasmin 1-1; OMOITE, Regina 0-4; GREGOIRE, Virginia 0-1). Fouled out--UCF-None, Jacksonville-None. Rebounds--UCF 45 (Cannon, Emma 10), Jacksonville 37 (RICHARDSON, Teneskei 9). Assists--UCF 9 (Wiley, Chelsie 3), Jacksonville 19 (OMOITE, Regina 6). Total fouls--UCF 15, Jacksonville 23. Technical fouls--UCF-None, Jacksonville-None. A-346
Notes
- Head coach Joi Williams, a native of Jacksonville, coached in her hometown for the second time in the previous two seasons. Williams is now 3-0 in her career against schools from Jacksonville.
- Amber Kirkpatrick made her UCF debut and started, becoming the ninth different Knight to start a game this season.
- The last time Kirkpatrick played in a collegiate game, her Eastern Kentucky team lost to Murray State, then coached by UCF head coach Joi Williams, in the 2007 OVC Tournament.
- Sophomore Marshay White started for the first time since the season opener at Colorado.
- Cannon had her fifth double double of the season despite playing just 24 minutes.
- UCF now 2-2 on the season against teams from Florida this season. The team has games against Miami (Dec. 18) and Florida State (Dec. 31) remaining.
- The program is 192-165 all-time against 25 different schools from the Sunshine State.
- UCF is 9-6 all-time against Jacksonville. It was the first win for the visiting team in the series in the past five meetings.