NEW ORLEANS, La. – The UCF women's basketball team opened American Athletic Conference action with a 54-47 win over Tulane Wednesday evening inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.
Playing its first game in 18 days, UCF (9-2, 1-0 AAC) started off a bit slow, with seven turnovers in the first quarter, but held a 13-10 edge over Tulane (8-4, 0-1 AAC) at the end of the opening 10 minutes. The second period followed a similar pattern, and the Knights took a 25-21 advantage into halftime.
Tulane came out of the locker room with a spark, using a 5-0 burst to take a 26-25 lead, but a 5-0 response from Diamond Battles and Tay Sanders put the Black and Gold back in front. The Green Wave remained in striking distance, knotting the score on two occasions, including a 33-33 mark with 2:23 left in the frame.
A clutch three-pointer from Alisha Lewis, followed by back-to-back steals on the defensive end leading to layups for Lewis and Sanders broke the tie and pushed UCF in front by seven, 40-33, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Knights maintained control in the final period, never allowing Tulane to get closer than five, to secure their first victory of 2022.
Masseny Kaba became the 20th member of UCF's 1,000-point club scoring her 1,001-career point with 2:51 remaining in the contest.
The newest member of our 1,000-point club, Masseny Kaba!
— UCF Women's Hoops (@UCF_WBB) January 6, 2022
Congrats @masseny_! ?? pic.twitter.com/QaM6LmM8O4
Alisha Lewis and Tay Sanders each finished with 13 points to lead UCF. Masseny Kaba and Diamond Battles added eight points for UCF. Destiny Thomas pulled down 11 rebounds and had a career-best five blocks. Battles and Lewis each had five assists while Battles and Thomas led UCF with three steals each.
Noteworthy
- UCF won its conference opener for the fifth-straight season, improving to 7-2 overall in its American Athletic Conference openers.
- The Knights held their eighth opponent below 50 points this season. The Green Wave entered the contest averaging 74.6 points per game and UCF held them to a season-low 47 points.
- UCF held a 47-41 rebounding advantage. Tulane came into Wednesday's contest leading the conference and ranked fourth nationally in rebounds per game (46.36) and sixth in defensive rebounds (31.4).
- The Black and Gold used 20 offensive rebounds to score 12 second chance points.
- UCF finished with a season-high six blocks.
UCF continues its conference road swing, heading to ECU for a Saturday matinee. The Knights and Pirates tip at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+
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