Jan. 31, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Sophomore Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) hit 7-of-9 threes and scored a game-high 30 points to lead UCF (8-13, 6-2 C-USA) to a 75-67 victory over visiting Marshall (12-9, 5-3 C-USA) in Conference USA women's basketball action Saturday night at UCF Arena. With its sixth victory in league play, the Knights broke the program's record for C-USA wins in a season.
"We are very excited about the win obviously," said head coach Joi Williams. "Marshall is a team that is very good, but we did a great job tonight. I thought defensively we got some stops and did a good job on [Chantelle] Handy, we got them into foul trouble and we were able to capitalize on that."
A Wiley three with 13:03 remaining in the game gave UCF a 52-41 lead, but Marshall rattled off a 14-3 run to tie the game at 55 with 7:19 on the clock. The Knights, who never trailed in the game, reclaimed the lead with an Aisha Patrick (Rockledge, Fla.) jumper that started an 11-2 spurt. Wiley capped the spurt with a three, and hit her seventh triple of the night with 2:12 on the clock for a 69-59 lead.
"The thing I was most proud of was when the score got tight in the second half our kids did a very good job of staying poised, getting stops when we needed to and knocking down some big shots on the offensive end," said Williams. "That says a lot about our growth and maturity at this point."
The sophomore finished the game 11-for-18 from the field, including the 7-for-9 performance from beyond the arc, to post her second 30-point game of the season. She hit 8-of-9 threes against Ole Miss on Dec. 20 en route to a career-high 31 points.
Wiley is now shooting 50.6 percent (42-83) from long range this season. She has played 40 minutes in back-to-back games and has scored 52 points and hit 11-of-14 threes in the first two games of UCF's season-long four-game homestand.
The Knights jumped ahead early and led 10-2 on a Patrick layup with 14:36 left in the opening half. Marshall closed to two points twice in the first half, but a putback by sophomore Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) with 24 seconds left gave UCF a 34-30 lead at the break.
Wiley had 14 points at the break, but UCF committed nine turnovers and gave up 53.8 percent shooting to the Thundering Herd as the game stayed tight. UCF had just one turnover in the second half to finish with a season-low 10 miscues.
While Wiley had another great night, three other Knights reached double figures. Cannon had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth-straight double-double. Patrick had 14 points and four assists while Mealing had 13 points and nine assists, including seven after halftime. The UCF three-guard lineup of Wiley, Mealing and Patrick had 57 points, 14 assists and only three turnovers.
Alyssa Hammond led Marshall with 25 points, but UCF again held the other team's leading scorer below its average as Tynikki Crook scored just 12 points.
The game was played in front of a season-high 1,220 fans at UCF Arena. The Knights will look for similar support on Thursday as they continue their four-game homestand against Tulsa at 7 p.m.
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
MARSHALL vs UCF
1/31/09 6 p.m. at Orlando, Fla. (UCF Arena)
At Orlando, Fla. (UCF Arena)
UCF 75, MARSHALL 67
MARSHALL (12-9, 5-3 C-USA)
HAMMOND, Alyssa 10-14 4-5 25; CROOK, Tynikki 6-12 0-0 12; BAKER, Casey 4-10 1-2 11; BROOKS, Keona 2-3 2-4 6; WALTERS, Tania 2-4 0-0 4; HANDY, Chantelle 2-5 0-0 4; BARNETTE, Alix 1-1 0-0 3; LISONBEE, Kamille 1-1 0-0 2; HARRIS, Angelica 0-1 0-0 0; HENRIQUES, Rashedah 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 7-11 67.
UCF (8-13, 6-2 C-USA)
Wiley, Chelsie 11-18 1-1 30; Patrick, Aisha 7-12 0-1 14; Cannon, Emma 4-11 6-7 14; Mealing, Angelica 4-12 4-4 13; Kirkpatrick, Amber 1-3 1-2 3; PAIGE, Leah 0-1 1-2 1; White, Marshay 0-0 0-0 0; Daniels, D'Nay 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 13-17 75.
MARSHALL................................ 30 37 - 67
UCF..................................... 34 41 - 75
3-point goals--MARSHALL 4-10 (BAKER, Casey 2-5; BARNETTE, Alix 1-1; HAMMOND, Alyssa 1-1; WALTERS, Tania 0-1; HARRIS, Angelica 0-1; HENRIQUES, Rashedah 0-1), UCF 8-14 (Wiley, Chelsie 7-9; Mealing, Angelica 1-4; Kirkpatrick, Amber 0-1). Fouled out--MARSHALL-None, UCF-None. Rebounds--MARSHALL 32 (BAKER, Casey 8), UCF 27 (Cannon, Emma 10). Assists--MARSHALL 12 (HANDY, Chantelle 5; BAKER, Casey 5), UCF 15 (Mealing, Angelica 9). Total fouls--MARSHALL 16, UCF 10. Technical fouls--MARSHALL-None, UCF-None. A-1220