Jan. 24, 2010
By Andrew Gavin
UCFAthletics.com
| UCF at UTEP Jan. 24, 2010 |
| El Paso, Texas (Don Haskins Center) | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final | ||
| UCF | 31 | 36 | 67 | ||
| UTEP | 34 | 43 | 77 | ||
UCF (4-11, 1-5 C-USA)
Wiley, Chelsie 10-16 2-2 29; Daniels, D'Nay 6-13 8-10 20; Mealing, Angelica 4-10 0-0 8; Caldwell, Jelisa 1-3 0-0 3; Kelly, Ashia 1-4 1-2 3; White, Marshay 1-5 0-0 2; Davis, Racine 1-1 0-0 2; Paige, Leah 0-0 0-0 0; Patrick, Aisha 0-4 0-0 0; Carter, Gevenia 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 11-14 67.
UTEP (12-7, 3-2 C-USA)
CALDWELL, Dietra 5-7 4-4 16; HUGHES, Jareica 5-7 2-5 14; WILLIAMS, Timika 5-6 2-4 12; GREEN, Briana 3-5 6-7 12; STEINBERGA, Anete 5-8 0-2 10; MILIAN, Ashley 3-6 2-2 8; VITOLA, Kristine 1-2 1-1 3; CHILDS, Torrie 1-1 0-0 2; TRUKSHANINA, S. 0-1 0-0 0; GUIDRY, Kayla 0-1 0-0 0; EGLITE, Baiba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-44 17-25 77.
EL PASO, Texas (UCFAthletics.com) - Junior Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) knocked down seven three-pointers and scored 29 points Sunday afternoon, but it was not enough as short-handed UCF (4-11, 1-5 C-USA) fell 77-67 to UTEP (12-7, 3-2 C-USA) in Conference USA women's basketball action at the Don Haskins Center.
Coming off the UCF bench, Wiley hit 10-of-16 shots in the game, including 7-for-10 from long range in her best effort of the season. Fellow junior D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) also poured in a season-high, finishing with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and an 8-for-10 effort from the free-throw line.
A spirited UCF team came out relentless on the defensive end, forcing a normally sure-handed UTEP team into 11 turnovers over the game's first 12 minutes. After UCF trailed 6-5 early, Wiley came off the bench to score 12 points during an 18-5 run that gave the Knights a 23-10 lead at the 8:18 mark of the opening half.
Not to be outdone, the Miners' Deitra Caldwell scored nine points as UTEP outscored the Knights 13-0 over the next four minutes to tie the game at 23-23. UCF's lead would again reach as many as five before the hosts scored the final eight points of the period to lead 34-31 at the break.
Caldwell scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the first half for the Miners, who made up for their turnover woes by shooting 14-of-21 from the field. Wiley and Daniels scored 24 of UCF's 31 first-half points as the Knights shot 12-of-28.
Back-to-back jumpers by Daniels and Angelica Mealing (Decatur, Ga.) put UCF back on top a minute into the second half. However, UTEP responded with a 12-2 spurt to lead 46-37 with 12:38 to play.
The Miners lead would waver between seven and 12 over the next seven minutes. UTEP still led by 11 (64-53) with 5:36 on the clock before the Knights mounted one last charge. Daniels scored four points and Wiley capped an 8-2 run with a triple to cut the lead to five at the 2:25 mark.
However, Jaireca Hughes, the two-time defending C-USA Player of the Year, hit a jumper late in the shot clock on the next possession to start a 7-0 run that put the game away out of reach.
After being held scoreless in the first half, Hughes scored 14 in the second half on 5-of-7 shooting. The Miners turned it over just six times and shot 60.9 percent over the final 20 minutes of play.
Daniels and sophomore Aisha Patrick (Rockledge, Fla.) grabbed seven rebounds each as the Knights outrebounded the Miners 31-24. Mealing played a season-high 39 minutes and added eight points to a career-high 10 assists.
UCF junior Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) missed Sunday's game at UTEP due to a violation of team policy. A return date to the court is yet to be determined for Cannon, who is averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in 2009-10.
The Knights return to Orlando and will begin a three-game homestand at the UCF Arena next Sunday against Tulane at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live nationally on CBS College Sports.
Season and single-game tickets are currently available with the UCF Ticket Office. For more information on purchasing tickets, contact the UCF ticket office at (407) 823-1000.
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.