UCF Knights Women’s basketball was on a six-game losing skid heading into the game hosting the Baylor Bears at Addition Financial Arena. The Bears concluded the season sweep of their alumnus UCF head coach Sytia Messer and the Knights for a seventh straight defeat, 93-63.
Scott was Too Hot
With 12 points in the opening quarter alone, Baylor’s Taliah Scott could not be stopped as the Knights faced a 27-13 deficit after the first quarter. Scott finished the contest scoring 26 connecting on eight of her 10 shots. Three of those she made were out of four attempts from beyond the arc while hitting seven free throws. She also recorded two rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
The Bears also had no turnovers in the game’s first 12:30 minutes of the game while UCF turned the ball over six times in that time frame. As the game went on, the Bears would eventually outrebound the Knights 40-25. They also shot better, making 35 of their 59 attempts (59.3%) compared to UCF’s 27 of 66 (40.9%) from the floor.
The Knights’ top scorers were Samari Bankhead and Kayanna Cox who each had a season-high posting 16 and 13 points, respectively.
What’s Next for the Knights
The Knights split their final four games of the season, two home and two away, starting Wednesday. They host the Wildcats of Kansas State on Wednesday. After a road trip to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats Saturday, they return to host a rematch against the #19 West Virginia Mountaineers February 25th before finishing the season by traveling to Houston March 1st to take on the Cougars.
If UCF can win three of the remaining games on the docket, they will be able to outdo last year’s total of 12. When asked what the key to finishing the season strong is, coach Messer said, “It’s players like Samari and Kay who continue to fight. . . we’ve got to fight and keep it positive as a coaching staff.”
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