BATON ROUGE, La. – The UCF women's basketball team earned a 58-48 win over LSU in the Maravich Assembly Center in the SEC/American Athletic Conference Challenge on Friday evening.
Defense was key once again, as UCF (2-0) held LSU (0-3) to just 12.5 percent from the floor in the first half and 27.3 percent for the game.
LSU scored the first three points of the contest, but UCF responded with 13 unanswered, including eight from Courtajia Sanders, to lead 13-3 after the first quarter.
The Knights continued to build their lead in the second period, pushing out to as many as 22 points, 28-6, on a pair of free throws from Jnaya Walker, and carried a 30-12 advantage into the locker rooms.
The Black and Gold maintained its double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the game, despite a late flurry of three-pointers from the Tigers. The Knights shot 63.6 percent in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Sanders led all scorers with 22 points and had three steals. Brittney Smith added a season-high 13 points. Diamond Battles pulled down a career-best and game-high 10 rebounds, dished out four assists and just missed a double-double with nine points. Alisha Lewis came off the bench to tally five assists and two steals.
Noteworthy
- Tay Sanders posted her first 20-point game as a Knight.
- UCF earned its first victory over LSU in the third meeting between the programs.
- The Knights also scored 17 points off 17 Tiger turnovers.
- UCF also held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding LSU 41-26.
- Kiera Brown made her UCF debut, playing just over nine minutes with an assist and a steal.
UP NEXT
UCF returns to action on Dec. 13, hosting FGCU in Addition Financial Arena.
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