ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - A late rally fell short as the UCF women's basketball team dropped a 77-71 decision to UC Davis in CFE Arena on Wednesday evening. The Knights closed the nonconference portion of the schedule with a 10-3 overall record.
"I knew (UC Davis) was going to be a really good team and challenge us," head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. "We're not going to forget this game yet. We're going to watch this game and we're going to correct things."
The Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening minute and a half of the first quarter, but the Aggies responded. Using a 6-0 run of its own, UC Davis claimed a one-point advantage with 7:12 left in the first frame.
Sophomore Tolulope Omokore pushed the Black and Gold back in front with a layup, and the teams traded baskets for the final five minutes of the opening quarter. Junior Aliyah Gregory sank a jumper to cut the UC Davis lead to one point, 14-13, with 18 seconds left, but a fast break layup from the Aggies made it a three-point game at the break.
The Aggies held the edge in the second quarter, pushing their lead to as many as eight points before taking a 34-28 advantage into the locker rooms. UC Davis extended its lead to double digits in the third quarter, but the Knights began to chip away in the final four minutes of the frame.
Redshirt senior Joslyn Massey drew the foul and completed the three-point play to cut the lead to nine points, 47-38, with 4:03 left on the scoreboard. Freshman Korneila Wright came through with a layup in the final seconds of the quarter to make it a seven-point game, 52-45, heading into the final 10 minutes.
Seeing the Aggies push their lead back up to eight points, the Knights rallied and pulled within three points, 55-52, on another three-point play from Massey. Each time UC Davis looked to put the game out of reach, UCF responded to make it a one-possession contest. However, the deficit proved to be just a little too much, and a pair of UC Davis free throws sealed the victory for the visitors.
The Knights forced 17 UC Davis turnovers, while committing a season-low 10 themselves.
UCF also held the slight edge on the boards, 40-39, and converted 18 offensive rebounds into 14 points. For the game, the Black and Gold shot 38.7 percent while the Aggies shot 52.5 percent from the floor.
Senior Zykira Lewis led all scorers with 22 points. Aliyah Gregory added a season-best 19 points with three steals, and Korneila Wright tied her season-best with eight assists.
Tolulope Omokore and Joslyn Massey posted their second and third double-doubles of the season, respectively. Omokore scored 12 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Massey chipped in 10 points and grabbed 10 boards.
UCF opens American Athletic Conference action on Sunday, hosting No. 1 UConn. The contest is slated for a 1 p.m. start in CFE Arena.