ORLANDO- The UCF women’s basketball team fought to the very end but ultimately came up just short against Cincinnati, 64-58, Saturday afternoon inside Addition Financial Arena.
The Knights (7-8, 0-5 Big 12) traded blows with the Bearcats (10-5, 2-3) until UCF went on a 7-0 run to end the first quarter, which gave the Black and Gold a 12-10 lead.
The Black and Gold increased their production on both sides of the ball in the second, dropping 19 points on 8-15 shooting, forcing five turnovers, and grabbing nine rebounds. Three consecutive baskets to end the quarter allowed the Knights to go into halftime with a 31-26 lead.
The Knights prevented the Bearcats from scoring a single field goal in the final 4:06 of the third quarter. That, combined with a buzzer-beater from sophomore Khyala Ngodu, helped the Knights trail by only one point at the end of the third, setting up a dramatic final quarter.
The fourth quarter had fans on the edge of their seat with the game tied at 57-57 with 1:41 left on the clock. A back-and-forth battle ensued as the Bearcats made a second chance field goal to take the lead with 51 seconds on the clock. The Black and Gold drew a foul which sent Kaitlin Peterson to the line, where she made one free throw. Following that, Cincinnati went on a 5-0 run from the charity stripe to end the game with a 64-58 victory.
Peterson led the Knights in points with 16, as well as steals with four. Two other Knights joined Peterson in scoring double digits, Emely Rodriguez and Achol Akot, with both players recording 11 points in the game. Ngodu led the team in rebounds with seven and Akot’s three assists were the most on the team.
The Knights travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on No.11 TCU on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m.