Jan. 22, 2014
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By Jenna Marina
UCFKnights.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - As the UCF women's basketball team prepared for its first-ever meeting against Rutgers, head coach Joi Williams stressed the importance of stopping the Scarlet Knights' transition game.
And for the first half, her team was fairly successful. Unfortunately, UCF (8-10, 1-6 The American) could not contain Rutgers (14-4, 5-2) for the entire 40 minutes of Wednesday night's 69-48 loss.
Rutgers outscored UCF on the fastbreak, 21-0, and boasted three scorers in double figures, led by Kahleah Copper's game-high 16 points.
UCF senior Sara Djassi and junior Stephanie Taylor both recorded a team-high 14 points, and Taylor nearly recorded a double-double with a game-high 9 rebounds. She also fell two free throws shy of matching the school record for free throw percentage after sinking a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
The whistle blew continually in UCF's favor in the first half as 16 of the Knights' 26 points were tallied at the free throw line.
Although Rutgers never trailed, UCF kept it close in the opening minutes. The Knights tied the score, 10-10, after Djassi tipped a pass to freshman Jordan Jackson, who took off running from half court to finish in transition despite a foul.
From there, the Scarlet Knights went on a 12-4 run that was capped by Copper's jumper with 9:11 remaining in the half. They pushed their lead out to as much as 34-20 before Jackson, Taylor and Zykira Lewis sank six free throws to rest the score at halftime, 36-26.
Rutgers got a jump after the break thanks to its transition game, which fueled a 19-4 run in the first nine minutes before Andrea Hines drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing, 55-33.
Briyona Canty responded for Rutgers with a trey of her own that beat the shot clock buzzer and Rutgers sailed smoothly on to a win.
The Knights travel to Cincinnati on Saturday at 2 p.m. Season tickets, mini-plans and group packages are still available by calling (407) UCF-1000 or visiting UCFKnights.com.