BOULDER, Colo. – The UCF women’s basketball team had a big third-quarter push but came up short against Colorado, 81-62, on Wednesday night in the CU Events Center.
The Knights (7-7, 0-4 Big 12) recorded a season-high 26 free throws made and shot 84% from the charity stripe while the Buffaloes (11-4, 2-2) led with 31 rebounds and 27 bench points.
Colorado got off to an early 13-0 start going 3-4 from the field. Kaitlin Peterson put the Black and Gold on the board at 5:45 with a layup followed by a three-pointer assisted by Ally Stedman. The Knights were unable to cut into the Buffaloes' lead ending the first quarter down, 31-11.
Colorado continued its scoring ways with 17 points in the second quarter compared to the Knights 10. UCF headed into the half with a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line but Colorado headed to the locker room with a 48-21 advantage.
The Buffaloes came out ready to go but the Knights turned up the intensity going on a 16-0 run ignited by two free throws made by Peterson. Stedman was lights out going 4-4 from the field and 4-4 from beyond the arc to account for 12 points in the quarter. The Black and Gold outscored the Buffaloes 24-16 to shorten the scoring gap, 64-45.
Stedman continued to fire on all cylinders with another three to open up the fourth quarter. As the Knights continued to score they were unable to string them together to get a run going and tied the Buffaloes in points in the quarter with 17. Colorado came out on top, 81-62, shooting 75% from the free-throw line (6-8).
Peterson led the way with 24 points along with going 15-17 from the free-throw line. Stedman recorded a stellar night with 19 points as she went 6-10 from the field. Emely Rodriguez led the team in rebounds, tallying six on the night. Meanwhile, Lucie Castagne dished out four assists.
The Knights return to Orlando for their annual space game featuring a matchup against Cincinnati Saturday, January 11 at 2 p.m.