Nov. 7, 2014
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andy Seeley
UCFKnights.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The Knights started just a bit slow Friday night at CFE Arena. One minute into an exhibition game with St. Leo, UCF was down 5-0. But the deficit didn't last long.
The Knights outscored the Lions 24-2 over the next 10 minutes. From there, UCF never looked back in an 81-44 victory.
Sophomore Zykira Lewis came off the bench to lead the way for the Knights, scoring 25 points. She tallied eight points in that early offensive outburst, including a pair of three-pointers to cap the spurt and put UCF up 24-7 midway through the first half.
Senior Brittni Montgomery recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, leading a dominant performance on the boards. UCF out-rebounded St. Leo 57-38. Aliyah Gregory tacked on 16 points of her own to round out the Knights' double-figure scorers.
"I thought Zykira did a good job," UCF head coach Joi Williams said. "Her shot selection was good. Also Brittni did a good job on the boards and she finished inside. We had a size advantage so we wanted to take control in the paint."
UCF increased its advantage to as many as 21 points late in the first half. At the intermission, the Knights' defense was had held St. Leo to just five field goals on 16 percent shooting. The Lions' offense came around a bit in the second half, converting on 10 field goals and shooting just under 29 percent. But the Knights heated up even more in the second half, as well.
UCF was up by 19 midway through the second half, when they used another surge to turn the game into a rout. Leading 51-32, UCF scored 26 of the next 30 points. Lewis scored 11 straight points for UCF during the onslaught. When Gregory hit a free throw at the 4:24 mark, the Knights were on top by 41 and they cruised from there.
"It was good to play against another team, see some different jerseys," Williams added. "All in all, it was a pretty good effort. We came out and gave good energy. The good thing about exhibition games is that you get to see some things you need to correct. We will definitely keep working on rebounding and boxing out. It will also be about our overall team defense if we want to have a chance to play in March."
St. Leo was led by Aaliyah Ramirez and Monique Bunk, who scored 10 points apiece.
The Knights open the regular season in one week, hosting Florida Atlantic at 11 a.m. on Friday, November 14 at CFEA Arena.