HOW IT HAPPENED
The first six field goals from each side came in the paint, as both looked to impose its physicality during the early stages. A 7-0 run from the visitors put the Knights down 11-4 with four minutes left on the clock, as Scott and Harmon put UCF on the board with strong finishes at the basket.
Kansas consistently got the charity stripe in the opening 10 minutes, connecting on five of eight attempts to disrupt any meaningful flow of action. The Black and Gold battled back into the contest, however, cutting the deficit to just one after layups from Chandler-Roberts and Yancy before the former and Harmon took care of business with six free throws between them.
The Jayhawks’ first three of the game were followed by a clean floater from Harmon, keeping UCF within two at the quarter’s end.
A cold stretch from the hosts saw Kansas put four on the board to push its lead to six, though with just two shots, Harmon leveled the contest with a pair of three pointers, adding a third seconds later to give the Knights their first lead of the game. Her hot hand continued with a mid-range jumper, her 13th consecutive point to respond to Kansas’ continued efforts on its end of the floor.
The sophomore found space in the paint once again in the final minutes, bridging two Chandler-Roberts buckets to put UCF up one, 33-32 at the break. Harmon herself scored 13 second-quarter points, nearly outscoring Kansas’ team total of 14, while her 19 in the first half matched her second-half performance against Rice at the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout on Nov. 28.
It was another back-and-forth affair to open the second half, as Harmon’s career-high fourth three, along with free throws from Chandler-Roberts, leveled the bout at 41 apiece. UCF’s hot hand wore off, however, going nearly four minutes without a field goal, opening the door for the Jayhawks to amass a 7-0 run.
It was the familiar doing of Harmon who ended the cold stretch with her career-high fourth three-pointer of the contest. Into the fourth quarter, the Jayhawks fended off multiple surges from the Knights, maintaining a consistent lead en route to their first Big 12 win of the season.
UP NEXT
The Knights will embark on their furthest and longest road trip of the season next week, venturing to Tempe and Tucson for contests at Arizona State (Wednesday) and Arizona (Saturday).
