UCF Puts a Scare into #4 UConn but Comes up Short

There are no moral victories, but the UCF Knights Women’s Basketball team sure did give the #4 UConn Huskies a scare on Thursday night before losing a 59-52 decision at Addition Financial Arena.

UCF was tied with the Huskies at 13-13 after one quarter, but a 16-3 second in favor of UConn ended up providing them the margin they needed. The Knights outscored the Huskies 36-30 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.

Kay Kay Wright scored 18 points on just 7/22 from the field, and Sianni Martin added 12. But three-point shooting did UCF in, as they were just 1/15 from the arc as a team.

Defensively, the Knights did everything they needed to to have a shot, holding UConn to 38.5% shooting, and out-rebounding the Huskies 41-36, and forcing 18 turnovers.

Coach Abe after the game:

For all the eyebrow-raising at the final score, one has to think UCF’s players and coaches must feel like they had a shot at this game and couldn’t deliver the blows they needed. Still, it has to also be a massive confidence-booster for a team that just came off getting throttled at Cincinnati less than a week prior.

There’s also this: UConn is 126-0 all-time in American Athletic Conference play, including regular season and tournament games. However, only twice have they won by less than double-digits: a 2017 game against Tulane (63-60), and Thursday night against UCF.

UCF’s next game is a pivotal one at South Florida, who are 2-1 in The American and 10-7 overall. Tip-off is Sunday at 3 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.