Jan. 29, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Led by sophomore Chelsie Wiley's (Riviera Beach, Fla.) game-high 22 points and freshman Aisha Patrick's (Rockledge, Fla.) 16 points and 13 assists, UCF (7-13, 5-2 C-USA) put four players in double figures en route to an 83-72 victory over visiting East Carolina (12-8, 3-4 C-USA) Thursday night in Conference USA women's basketball action at UCF Arena. With the victory in the opener of a four-game homestand, the Knights improve to a perfect 3-0 at home in conference play.
With their fifth conference win of the season, the Knights match the highest win total for the program since joining the league in 2005-06. The victory over the Pirates was UCF's first in seven games in the all-time series, with ECU sweeping the season series each of the past three years.
"This was a huge game for us with the beginning of a four-game homestand," said head coach Joi Williams. "It was important for us to defend our home court. It was a good start to the homestand, and we just have to keep it going. We want to continue to earn respect, and in order to do that you have to go out and beat people, you can't just get close."
Coming out of the halftime break, UCF tried to pull away, and using back-to-back three-pointers from Wiley used an 11-6 run to post its biggest lead of the second half at 49-36 just three minutes into the period.
The Pirates began to chip away at the hosts' lead, and over the next 10 minutes outscored UCF 25-13 to cut the deficit to just one at 62-61 at the 6:57 mark.
It was Patrick who canned a jumper to give her team some distance, and then the freshman found sophomore Marshay White (Rochester, N.Y.) for a three with 6:09 left to make it 67-61 UCF.
Patrick finished just two rebounds shy of a triple-double, adding eight rebounds and three steals in 38 minutes. She was 5-for-8 from the field and 6-for-8 from the line in the game. Her 13 assists are tied for the sixth-highest total in UCF history and are the most by a Knight since 1998.
A three by ECU senior Jasmine Young cut the score to 73-70 with 2:28 remaining, but sophomore Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) hit a layup to make it 75-70, and UCF hit all eight of its free throws down the stretch to close out the game. The Knights went 17-for-21 from the charity stripe for the game, hitting their final 10.
Cannon finished the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season and 22nd of her young career. White added 12 points off the UCF bench on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-for-2 from long range.
Patrick also drew the assignment most of the game on ECU's leading scorer, senior LaCoya Terry. After Terry scored nine points, she was held to just one after the break and finished seven points below her season average.
"I thought Aisha did a fantastic job on both ends of the floor," said Williams. "Usually she gets the assignment to guard the other team's best player. We call on her a lot as a freshman and she answers the challenge every night."
After falling behind 9-4 early, UCF rattled off a 13-0 spurt to go ahead 17-9 with 12:39 on the first half clock. Another 8-0 run later in the period gave the Knights a 15-point lead (32-17) with 4:57 remaining before the Pirates closed to 38-30 at the break.
Wiley scored 14 of her points before the break and finished with her fifth game of 20 or more points this season. She hit 9-of-14 shots from the field, including four of her five three-pointers while playing all 40 minutes.
As a team, UCF hit a season-high 49.2 percent of its shots, knocking down 30-of-61, including 6-of-10 three-pointers. Cannon's rebounding total helped the Knights to a 33-29 edge on the glass.
UCF will return to its home floor less than 48 hours after the end of the ECU game, hosting Marshall Saturday night at 6 p.m. Marshall fell 70-64 at Southern Miss Thursday night, putting the Thundering Herd in a tie with the Knights just one game back of first place.
The game will be the 10K Gold Rush as general admission tickets will be sold for just one dollar. In addition, the first 500 Knights' fans will receive a free 10K Gold Rush t-shirt, and Williams and her team are encouraging everyone in attendance to wear gold.
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.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Newspaper Box Score
ECU vs UCF
1/29/09 7 p.m. at Orlando, Fla. (UCF Arena)
At Orlando, Fla. (UCF Arena)
UCF 83, ECU 72
ECU (12-8, 3-4 C-USA)
YOUNG, Jasmine 4-12 7-8 16; SPIVEY, Allison 4-6 0-0 11; TERRY, LaCoya 4-12 1-2 10; WILSON, Crystal 3-3 4-4 10; GAY, KIM 3-6 2-2 8; CLARKE, Ashley 3-5 2-2 8; BEST, Jean 2-3 0-0 4; HUSAROVA, Gabriela 1-4 0-0 3; COCHRAN, Lauren 1-1 0-0 2; ASHFORD, Shuanda 0-1 0-0 0; BOWENS, Tiahana 0-1 0-2 0; SMITH, Chareya 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 16-20 72.
UCF (7-13, 5-2 C-USA)
Wiley, Chelsie 9-14 0-0 22; Cannon, Emma 7-16 3-5 17; Patrick, Aisha 5-8 6-8 16; White, Marshay 4-7 2-2 12; Kirkpatrick, Amber 3-6 2-2 8; Mealing, Angelica 1-4 4-4 6; Paige, Leah 1-1 0-0 2; Caldwell, Jelisa 0-2 0-0 0; Kelly, Ashia 0-1 0-0 0; Daniels, D'Nay 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 17-21 83.
ECU........................... 30 42 - 72
UCF........................... 38 45 - 83
3-point goals--ECU 6-15 (SPIVEY, Allison 3-4; TERRY, LaCoya 1-3; YOUNG, Jasmine 1-4; HUSAROVA, Gabriela 1-4), UCF 6-10 (Wiley, Chelsie 4-5; White, Marshay 2-2; Kirkpatrick, Amber 0-1; Caldwell, Jelisa 0-2). Fouled out--ECU-None, UCF-None. Rebounds--ECU 29 (CLARKE, Ashley 4; TERRY, LaCoya 4), UCF 33 (Cannon, Emma 10). Assists--ECU 14 (YOUNG, Jasmine 7), UCF 19 (Patrick, Aisha 13). Total fouls--ECU 20, UCF 16. Technical fouls--ECU-None,UCF-None. A-508