Feb. 23, 2012
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By Jenna Marina
UCFAthletics.com
GREENVILLE, N.C. (UCFAthletics.com) - There are some nights in basketball when a team is so hot that whenever the ball leaves a player's hands, it's going through the net. Unfortunately for the UCF women's basketball team, ECU had one of those nights.
UCF (12-14, 7-7 C-USA) dropped a 65-50 loss to ECU (9-18, 3-11 C-USA) on Thursday night at Minges Coliseum. The Pirates drained 10 three-pointers on the night to split the regular-season series.
Junior forward Kayli Keough nearly recorded a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Aisha Patrick also scored a team-high 11 points.
ECU sank 6-of-8 from downtown in the first half while the Knights could only score from the free throw line as they were held without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. When Shayla Hodges hit three-consecutive treys, she gave the Pirates their largest lead of the first half, 26-13, with 4:37 to go.
Freshman Bryeasha Blair chipped in a jumper in the paint to end UCF's drought from the field with 2:30 remaining, and she later found sophomore Leo Montalvo for a three-pointer from the right wing to give UCF some momentum heading into the locker room as it faced a 10-point deficit, 30-20.
The Pirates converted six free throws to fuel an 11-4 run to open the second half and the Knights could never get close again. Freshman Stephanie Taylor played extended minutes off the bench and scored a career-high six points in the second half.
UCF continues on to Houston to face the Cougars on Sunday at 1 p.m. eastern. The game will be televised on FOX Sports Network.
As always, the IMG Sports Network will broadcast all of UCF's games live on UCFAthletics.com with a subscription plan. Scott Adams will provide the play-by-play. Live stats are also available via UCFAthletics.com.