UCF takes down Samford; UF edges Houston
With 23 seconds left, UCF women’s basketball team faced its first loss of the season Saturday.
Instead, the Knights forced overtime in the UCF Thanksgiving Classic, and then a second extra period, to overcome visiting Samford, 79-74.
“The No. 1 thing I learned about my team is that we have fight in us,” first-year coach Sytia Messer said. “I was very proud of the way we fought. There were times that we could have folded, but we stepped up.”
It was the Knights’ first double OT game since 2013. Samford fell to 3-4.
Destiny Thomas’ layup tied the score at 60 forced the first OT. Buckets from Taylor Gibson (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Mya Burns (6 points, 5 rebounds) tied the score at 67 to extend the game.
Laila Jewett (career-high 34 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) knocked down a field goal for a 75-70 lead and made two foul shots with less than a minute left to seal it.
“When we were finally up five, that was the only time I had comfort in the game,” Jewett said.
UCF (4-0) was playing its second game in five days. Rachel Ranke (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Thomas (12 points, 15 rebounds) also contributed to the win.
On Day 2 of the Classic, the Knights play Sunday against Southeast Missouri State.
The Gators needed repeated big shots to prevail and close out the St. Pete Showcase. They trailed by 6 with 1:44 and eventually drew even at 65 after Leilani Correa made 2 foul shots and 3-pointer, sandwiched around KK Deans’ and-1 finsh.
Except the Cougars (1-5) took a 3-point lead on a three-point play, too. With 12 seconds left, Correa responded by converting yet another three-point play to force overtime.
The Cougars led 73-70 in the extra session but the Gators overtook them from good by making their free throws. Correa’s seasonhigh 24 points and 19 from Dean helped the Gators (6-1) overcome an astounding 30 turnovers. Four players had 5 giveaways.
“That’s who Leilani is. She’s dependable, she’s consistent, and to see her with eight rebounds as well, we knew the key to the game was going to be in our ability to rebound,” UF coach Kelly Rae Finley said. “We had to control what we could control. I didn’t anticipate throwing the ball away quite so many times, but that’s what happens.”