Feb. 27, 2010
| UCF at Tulsa Feb. 27, 2010 |
| Tulsa, Oklahoma (Don Reynolds Center) | |||||
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Final | ||
| UCF | 28 | 22 | 50 | ||
| Tulsa | 25 | 24 | 49 | ||
UCF (9-15, 6-9 C-USA)
Daniels, D'Nay 5-19 1-2 11; White, Marshay 5-7 1-2 11; Cannon, Emma 3-8 0-2 6; Wiley, Chelsie 2-6 0-0 5; Mealing, Angelica 2-10 1-2 5; Patrick, Aisha 2-8 0-0 4; Kelly, Ashia 1-2 1-2 3; Carter, Gevenia 1-1 0-0 3; Davis, Racine 1-1 0-3 2; Paige, Leah 0-0 0-0 0; Caldwell, Jelisa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 4-13 50.
TULSA (12-14, 6-9 C-USA)
WILLIAMS, Larrissa 8-15 3-7 19; MAYBERRY, Taleya 6-16 2-2 15; LEWIS, Denise 1-1 2-2 4; BEER, Tatum 1-3 0-0 3; COUISNARD, Tiffani 1-3 0-2 2; KERMIS, Jermaine 1-2 0-0 2; SCOTT, Chanice 1-5 0-0 2; BROOKS, Teka 1-4 0-0 2; VAUGHAN, Kara 0-5 0-0 0; HALL, Kensey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 7-13 49.
TULSA, Okla. (UCFAthletics.com) - It wasn't exactly how head coach Joi Williams drew it up, but when junior Chelsie Wiley's off-balance, one-handed 17-footer fell through the net with 0.4 seconds left Saturday afternoon, UCF escaped with a 50-49 victory at Tulsa and Williams, Wiley and the Knights were not too concerned with how it happened.
All that mattered to UCF Saturday was that they had snapped Tulsa's five-game winning streak and finally had the ball bounce its way in a close game. After five frustrating losses this season in contests decided by three points or less, Wiley changed her team's luck and gave them momentum with just one game remaining before retuning to Tulsa for the Conference USA Tournament in early March.
"It is huge for our confidence to be on the other side of a close game," Wiley said. "Those [close] games that we lost were hard fought and we just came up short. It is just a matter of us believing that we can win the game. Even though we were trailing with 3.4 seconds left. We believed we could still win the game."
Wiley's shot came after an eight-minute stretch that saw UCF hit just 1-for-7 from the field and turn the ball over six times while watching Tulsa turn a five-point deficit into a 49-48 lead. The Knights were able to force the Hurricane into a turnover with five ticks left. Tulsa had a foul to give and used it, setting up Wiley's heroics with 3.4 seconds remaining.
Sophomore Aisha Patrick (Rockledge, Fla.) found Wiley in the corner. With two players running at her, Wiley dribbled toward the elbow but was knocked off balance as she went up for the shot. Battling sickness that limited her to just 18 minutes and having made just one previous shot in the game, Wiley fired the high-arcing shot that gave UCF the victory.
"Only by the grace of God that I made that shot," Wiley said of the game-winner. "Our first option was to go to [Marshay White], but they double-teamed her. I got it in the corner and made an aggressive play to try to get a shot off before the buzzer. It was ugly but it went in. All I remember was releasing it, and then I heard the reaction and saw my teammates going crazy and knew I made the shot."
The lead changed eight times in the opening half before a pair of unheralded Knights gave UCF a 28-25 halftime lead. Freshman Gevenia Carter (Houston, Texas) knocked down a three-pointer with 22 seconds on the clock and sophomore Racine Davis (Tamarac, Fla.) closed the first-half scoring with a layup with six ticks remaining.
UCF scored the first six points of the second half to extend its lead to nine (34-25), but the visitors offense really stalled over the remainder of the game. The Knights scored just 14 points over the next 17 minutes before the final shot fell.
White and fellow junior D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta,Ga.) each scored 11 points to lead UCF. Nine different Knights scored in the contest and UCF got 22 points from its bench.
Daniels' eight rebounds also led a team effort on the glass as UCF outrebounded its 13th opponent in 15 C-USA games. Patrick and junior Angelica Mealing (Decatur, Ga.) each grabbed six rebounds from the backcourt as the Knights held a 45-39 edge on the glass.
UCF finishes the month with a 5-3 February record. The Knights will attempt to spoil another senior night on Wednesday when its travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face Southern Miss at 8 p.m. EST. It will be the Knights last game before defending their C-USA tournament title beginning March 8 in Tulsa.