Nov. 25, 2014
Box Score
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By Jenna Marina
UCFKnights.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - A big night from its bench and a solid rebounding effort helped the UCF women's basketball team to a 71-59 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday night at CFE Arena.
Sophomore reserve Makenzi Reasor netted a career-high and game-high 16 points in 19 minutes to lead three Knights in double figures. She was joined by freshman reserve Fifi Ndour's career-high 10 points and sophomore Zykira Lewis, who hit the double-digit mark (12 points) for the fourth-straight game.
"I thought Makenzi was really efficient tonight. Offensively, defensively she did a good job. Really proud of her," UCF head coach Joi Williams said. "She's struggled a little bit but still working hard in practice and it paid off tonight."
Combined with their ability to turn offensive rebounds into points, the Knights were able to maintain a healthy lead for much of the night. UCF chipped in 22 points off second-chance opportunities from its 19 offensive boards.
"In the past, we've gotten a lot of offensive boards and didn't do a great job of finishing them. That was a really good stat tonight - we finished shots in the paint," Williams said. "We played with some toughness. I thought that started with Makenzi and Yanique (Gordon) playing really tough inside."
Meanwhile, UCF held Jacksonville's leading scorer Sherranda Reddick (18 ppg) to 9 points on the night and just 2 in the first half.
A foul heavy first-half allowed the Knights to capitalize at the free throw line, where they converted 15-of-18 from the stripe.
Sophomore Jordan Jackson made the most of her seven minutes off the bench in the first half with 6 points, including a banked, running jumper that beat the buzzer to send the team into the locker room with a 36-28 lead.
Although the Dolphins (1-4) continually tried to chip away at UCF's lead, the Knights (3-1) were able to come up with timely buckets to stifle their momentum. UCF led by as much as 14 points with 12 minutes to go in the game thanks to Reasor's layup off a dish from Lewis.
Senior Andrea Hines and Lewis closed out the final minute by sinking 4-of-6 free throws, and UCF put an exclamation point on the win when freshman Nyala Shuler came up with a steal with 15 seconds to go that led to a fastbreak layup for classmate Aliyah Gregory.
Over the next two weeks, the Knights will play four of their next five games on the road. Up first for UCF is a trip to Amherst, Massachusetts, to face UMass on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Fans can get in on the action all year with the "Season Ticket Card," which is on sale now, starting at $30. Tickets are available today by calling (407) UCF-1000 or buying online by clicking here.