Knights hound Huskies but still suffer a loss
The UCF women’s basketball team held No. 1 UConn to its lowest point total of the year on Wednesday night at CFE Arena, but the Knights couldn’t find enough offense in a 55-37 loss.
“To hold this team to 18 points in [the final] 20 minutes is just remarkable,” UCF coach Katie AbrahamsonHenderson said. “That says a lot about our defense, our press and our fitness. To be able to do that against this team is pretty amazing.”
The Huskies (23-0, 11-0 AAC) entered Wednesday’s game averaging 91.3 points per game, but stingy defense by the Knights (16-8, 8-3 AAC) kept them well below that. UCF’s defense held UConn to a 40 percent shooting mark, but the offense couldn’t keep up. Without second leading scorer Aliyah Gregory, the team shot just 29.6 percent from the field.
A slow start certainly didn’t help the Knights’ cause, with UCF trailing 21-4 at the end of the first quarter and 37-12 at halftime. However, the team regrouped and came back to outscore the Huskies 25-18 in the second half. During the final 10 minutes, UCF outscored the nation’s top team 17-7. That final 20 minutes of the contest gave the Knights some muchneeded confidence heading into the season’s final stretch.
“I never want them to quit,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I don’t care what the score is, I want them to fight through the whole game for 40 minutes because you just never know what’s going to happen. I’m very proud of them.”
Zakiya Saunders led the way for UCF, scoring six of the team’s 12 points in the first half before finishing with 13. Korneila Wright chipped in with 12.
UConn got a game-high 19 points from Katie Lou Samuelson while Napheesa Collier put up a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Samuelson was the big difference-maker for the Huskies, shooting 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.
“When you’re playing a team like UCF, you have to be able to make a lot of perimeter jump shots,” veteran UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Otherwise, you’re not going to be able to get them away afrom the lane as much as you’d like to.”
Samuelson’s success from the beyond the 3-point line did draw UCF out of the lane, leading to a 24-8 advantage in the paint for UConn. Turnovers were another issue for the Knights, who gave up 16 against the Huskies.
Wednesday night was a big step forward for the Knights, who lost 80-44 to UConn on Jan. 9.
“Every time we play them, I think our team understands them more,” AbrahamsonHenderson said. “Honestly, I understand them more. It will never be easy. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. As you continue to play them more, you learn a little bit more about them.”
UCF entered the night tied with USF for second in the American Athletic Conference, but a Bulls win knocked the Knights down to third. The Knights have five regular-season games left before the conference tournament.
UCF returns to action on Saturday at Temple before a home contest with rival USF on Feb. 18.
“We discussed that if we can do this in this game [against UConn], then we’ve got to keep that mindset in the next game,” Abrahamson-Henderson said.