ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 57-41 win over Cincinnati in Addition Financial Arena on Sunday afternoon.
UCF (7-2, 5-1 AAC) scored less than 30 seconds into the contest and never relinquished its lead over the Bearcats (3-8, 2-5 AAC). Ahna Burney hit a three-pointer at the 9:32 mark and the Knights went on to outscore Cincinnati 9-2 over the next three minutes to take a 12-2 edge and force a Bearcats timeout. The visitors responded over the final six minutes, but UCF held a 19-13 advantage after the opening frame.
Balanced scoring in the second frame and solid defense led the Knights to a 14-point halftime lead, 34-20. Five Knights registered points in the quarter, while the Black and Gold defense held Cincinnati to 23.1 percent (3-13) from the field.
The Knights maintained a double-digit advantage for the entire second half. Defensively, UCF limited the Bearcats to single digits in the third quarter and 22.2 percent (2-9) from the field.
UCF limited Cincinnati to just 28.6 percent shooting (14-49) and held The American Co-Preseason Player of the Year IImar'I Thomas to just 13 points – well below her season average of 25.0 points per game.
The Knights outrebounded the Bearcats 44-34 and scored 16 second chance points. UCF also forced Cincinnati into 18 turnovers, converting those into 15 points. The Black and Gold committed a season-low 11 turnovers themselves and had 11 steals.
Diamond Battles led all scorers with 14 points and dished out five assists. Brittney Smith added 12 points and pulled down five rebounds. Ahna Burney set career highs with eight points and a team-leading seven rebounds.
Alisha Lewis matched Battles with five assists and the point guard duo combined for just one turnover in the game. The pair also led UCF with three steals each.
UP NEXT
UCF returns to action with a trip to Houston for a 6 p.m. game on Jan. 23. The Knights earned a 55-46 win over the Cougars in Orlando on Jan. 3.
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