A week after the UCF women’s basketball team dropped 101 points in its season-opening win, more Knights newcomers introduced themselves to the squad with emphatic displays on both ends of the floor in leading the group to its second win of the young campaign.
Behind double-digit scoring nights from six players, UCF (2-0) battled its way through a tight first 30 minutes before utilizing a 31-point fourth-quarter surge to topple the visiting Anderson Trojans 96-73 at Addition Financial Arena Monday night.
“Six players in double figures — that’s part of the reason we were able to put up 96 points,” coach Sytia Messer said. “But we also gave up 73; that wasn’t our goal. We have to get better on that part, collectively, but we had different people step up.”
Throughout the Knights’ comfortable victory over Bethune-Cookman Nov. 6, it was junior transfer guard Kaitlin Peterson and her career-high 31-point game that helped propel UCF to its 38-point win. Monday night, a late push that began in the waning minutes of the third quarter aided in pushing the Knights past the Trojans (2-1).
With the home squad trailing by three and just over three minutes to play in the third period, UCF put together a rally that began at the free-throw line. Looking at a 3-point deficit, Peterson, returning graduate student guard Mya Burns and junior forward Taylor Gibson combined for the Knights’ final 10 points of the quarter — six of which came via attempts at the line — to give UCF a 65-61 lead entering the final period.
Burns, in addition to her 16 points, also snagged 11 rebounds to notch UCF’s first double-double of the season.
Another one of the Knights’ new faces took command exiting the break as freshman forward Achol Akot netted eight of UCF’s next 12 points to begin the fourth quarter before Peterson came through with her lone 3-point shot of the evening to put the game out of reach on her way to a team-best 18 points.
Joining Peterson in double figures were Burns (16), Akot (14), Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu (13), Laila Jewett (12) and Gibson (10).