Women’s Hoops Takes Down Houston for First Big 12 Win of the SeasonWomen’s Hoops Takes Down Houston for First Big 12 Win of the Season

Women’s Hoops Takes Down Houston for First Big 12 Win of the Season

by Maxson Hernandez-Trujillo
Box Score

ORLANDO - With standout performances across the bench, the UCF women’s basketball team powered past the Houston Cougars 70-56 Saturday in Addition Financial Arena to claim their first victory in Big 12 Conference play this season.


Kaitlin Peterson exploded with 21 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 28 points, and Achol Akot tied her career-high in rebounds with 14. Nevaeh Brown and Ally Stedman each scored 11 points in the second half, along with Brown’s five assists, to add a conference victory to the Black and Gold’s win column.

I always tell my players, it’s not what happened to you, it’s how you respond in life. And we’ve taken some punches this season. We’ve never complained, and we’ve never made excuses. All we talked about was getting better and stacking days. And we know when you do things and you err on the right side of life, things happen.

Sytia MesserHead Women's Basketball Coach

The Knights (8-12, 1-9 Big 12) struggled early as the Cougars (5-17, 1-10) jumped out to a 7-1 lead thanks in part to a pair of layups and free throws from Summer Bostock and Peyton McFarland. Peterson then responded with seven points of her own to keep UCF hanging early as the quarter ended 15-12 in favor of Houston.


The second quarter featured the encore of the Kaitlin Peterson show, as she shot a perfect 5-5 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc for 13 points to bring her total points tally to 21 at halftime. Mahogany Chandler Roberts’ four rebounds helped to fuel the fire as the Knights took a 31-26 advantage into the half.

The Black and Gold came out of the locker room after halftime on a mission, as Brown’s two three-pointers and three assists, coupled with Akot’s seven rebounds, led to a 14-0 run in the middle of the quarter that left UCF leading Houston 50-38 going into the fourth.


The Knights opened the fourth quarter with Stedman and Houston’s Gigi Cook exchanging three-pointers, and Stedman kept her hot hand going after that. She later added a layup and another three-pointer to give UCF a 13-point advantage as the game entered its closing stages. Brown chipped in five more points and Adeang Ring helped maintain the momentum with three rebounds to keep the game out of reach for Houston. With 34 seconds on the clock, Peterson slammed in a three-pointer to ice the game, as UCF secured the victory with a final score of 70-56.


With UCF’s performance today, it improved its record over Houston at Addition Financial Arena to 12-2, with 10 straight victories.


The Knights will look to continue their upward trend on the road as they travel to Provo, Utah on Feb. 5 to face BYU at 9:00 p.m. at the Marriott Center.