Feb. 13, 2010
By Andrew Gavin
UCFAthletics.com
| UCF at UAB Feb. 12, 2010 |
| Birmingham, Ala. (Bartow Arena) | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final | ||
| UCF | 29 | 51 | 80 | ||
| UAB | 26 | 47 | 73 | ||
UCF (7-12, 4-6 C-USA)
White, Marshay 9-14 5-6 26; Daniels, D'Nay 6-8 5-6 17; Wiley, Chelsie 3-8 3-4 11; Mealing, Angelica 2-7 4-6 10; Cannon, Emma 1-6 4-4 6; Patrick, Aisha 1-4 3-4 5; Kelly, Ashia 1-2 0-0 3; Carter, Gevenia 1-1 0-0 2; Paige, Leah 0-0 0-0 0; Caldwell, Jelisa 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 24-30 80.
UAB (10-12, 4-6 C-USA)
HARRIS, Jala 10-20 2-2 26; JONES, Amber 5-11 8-10 20; DUKES, Tamika 7-11 3-4 17; WATSON, Khalilah 1-4 0-2 2; GREEN, Jasmine 1-1 0-0 2; TRUEHEART, Miteka 1-4 0-1 2; SIMPSON, Erica 1-1 0-2 2; BREAUX, Shelly 1-2 0-0 2; BROWN, Meagan 0-0 0-0 0; LOWE, LaKenya 0-2 0-0 0; PETERSON, Amanda 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 13-21 73.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UCFAthletics.com) - Just three games after being removed from the UCF (7-12, 4-6 C-USA) starting lineup, junior Marshay White (Rochester, N.Y.) looks to be perfectly comfortable in her new role. White scored 11 of her career-high 26 points during a 13-4 run midway through the second half to lead the Knights to an 80-73 victory at UAB (10-12, 4-6 C-USA) Friday night in Conference USA women's basketball action at Bartow Arena.
Playing 29 minutes off the UCF bench, White knocked down 9-of-14 shots, including 3-for-5 from long range, to better her previous career high of 23 points. In the second half alone, the junior hit 5-of-6 shots and three from long range to score 16 points and help the Knights extend a three-point halftime lead to as many as 13 points with 5:10 to play.
UCF enacted revenge on its third-straight opponent for an earlier loss. The Blazers won in Orlando 69-61 on Jan. 17 to move to 4-0 and put the Knights at 0-4 in C-USA play. Things have changed significantly since with UCF winning four of six games and UAB having now lost six in a row.
The Knights had not won on the road in C-USA play, but after two-straight wins at UCF Arena, White said her team was determined to continue its strong play.
"It is very important for us to win road games and keep playing well even though we are on the road. We knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew we had to guard penetration and be aware of where the shooters were. I think it is a really big win for us, and we just need to keep it going against Memphis on Sunday."
UCF did not score for nearly the first five minutes and trailed 11-10 midway through the first half. White then converted back-to-back three-point plays to put the visitors in front to stay, 16-11. The Knights led by as many as eight in the opening half, but UAB cut its halftime deficit to three, 29-26.
With C-USA's leading scorer Jala Harris pouring in UAB's first 14 points of the second half, the Blazers hung tough and trailed just 40-38 with 14:16 on the clock. Then White took over, squeezing a pair of free throws in between a trio of three-pointers in the decisive 13-4 run that put UCF in front 53-42 just three minutes later.
"We wanted to make a run, and it started with defense. I just tried to be aggressive and knock some shots down," White said. "My teammates did a good job of finding me when I was open and it was just up to me to hit the shots." Despite the efforts of UAB's Harris, Amber Jones and Tamika Dukes to rally the Blazers over the final 10 minutes, UCF had an answer each time. The Knights hit 16-of-22 free throws in the second half and kept the advantage at seven or more until the final buzzer.
Harris tied White for game-high honors with 26 points, but scored just four under the final 12 minutes. Jones and Dukes added 20 and 17 for the Blazers respectively.
White was not the only Knight to have a strong night offensively. Junior D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) hit 6-of-8 shots to finish with 17 points, and fellow juniors Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) and Angelica Mealing (Decatur, Ga.) added 11 and 10 respectively. Junior Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
UCF hit a season-high eight threes in the contest, knocking down 44.4 percent from long range (8-18). The Knights hit 24-of-52 shots from the field and a season-best 24-of-30 from the charity stripe.
The Knights will aim for its fourth-straight revenge victory Sunday afternoon at Memphis at 3 p.m. The Tigers, who defeated Southern Miss 89-85 in overtime Friday night to remain in a first-place tie in C-USA, beat UCF 49-47 in Orlando on Jan. 15.
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.