TAMPA, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – A career-high 34-point effort from junior Aliyah Gregory lifted UCF to a 66-62 win over No. 22 USF in the War on I4 contest inside the Sun Dome. The victory is the first for the Knights over a ranked opponent in their Division I era.
"I'm just really happy for (Zykira Lewis) and (Joslyn Massey)," head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. "(The program) hasn't won (against USF) since 1980. USF is a great team, and a great-coached team with great players."
The Knights earned their first-ever win in Tampa. Since Tuesday's contest marked the lone meeting between the two squads, six points were added to UCF's War on I4 rivalry series advantage, which is now 24-15.
"I'm just so proud of our team," Coach Abe said. "That they came in with a lot of good energy and came out defensively and really stuck by our game plan in what we want to do. It was really awesome to see them come out in those first two quarters really confident and aggressive."
UCF improved to 16-9 overall. With a 6-6 mark in the American Athletic Conference, the Knights now hold the most wins since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 season.
Gregory led all scorers with 34 points. Senior Zykira Lewis added 12 points, and swiped a game-high five steals. Redshirt sophomore Nyala Shuler tied her season-high with 10 rebounds and set a career-best with three blocks.
Major Milestone
• With 3:40 remaining in the first quarter, Aliyah Gregory added her name to the UCF women's basketball 1,000-point club.
• The junior guard went on to score a career-high 34 points, shooting 15-of-26 (57.7) from the field. She was also 4-for-4 from the free throw line and grabbed three rebounds.
• The Tampa, Fla., native became the 22nd Knight to accomplish the feat, and reached the milestone in front of her family in her hometown.
• Gregory has now scored a combined 123 points over her last three games (28 at Memphis, 28 vs. Houston, 33 at Tulsa, 34 at USF).
Gregory on reaching 1,000 career points: "Of course, hitting a major milestone like that feels good and then we get a win on top of that feels great."
Big Win In Tampa
• Gregory went 15-for-26 from the field, made a pair of free throws to extend her team's lead to four points with 13 second remaining and grabbed four rebounds to assist UCF to its first ever win in on the road in 13 tries against the Bulls.
• Tuesday was also the first victory for the Knights over USF since Dec. 10, 1980 in a neutral site contest prior to moving to Division I in 1984-85.
• Based upon information available to the UCF Athletics Communications office, this is the first victory for UCF over a ranked opponent. The Knights have come close several times including sending No. 20 Western Kentucky to overtime on Feb. 20, 1992 in a 90-77 defeat.
Next up, UCF returns to CFE Arena to host East Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will serve as the Play4Kay game to raise breast cancer awareness and will broadcast on the American Digital Network.
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