UNCG drops heartbreaker to UCF, 76-73

ORLANDO, FL – The UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team dropped a 73-76 heartbreaker to UCF in the finale of the UCF Holiday Classic on Thursday night. Down by only three points with 8.2 seconds left, the Golden Knights sealed the victory with free throws down the stretch.

UNCG (1-10) had three players in double figures and was led by senior guard Kemena Brooks who tallied a season-high 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor. The Accokeek, MD, native was in double figures for the second consecutive game. Brittany Frazier and Gini Grimsley were also in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

“I was proud of the way that our team stuck around tonight, “said head coach Lynne Agee. “We were able to match them run for run and picked up key buckets when we needed them. We were in the game with a chance to win late and that is a step in the right direction for us at this stage in our team’s development.”

The Spartans outrebounded UCF by a 47-41 margin and shot 36.9 percent from the game on 24-of-65 shooting from the field. UNCG’s bench also outscored UCF’s bench 28-10.

UCF (6-6) had four players in double digits with Tia Lewis leading the way with 17 points on7-of-14 shooting from the field. Chelsie Wiley was UCF’s next leading scorer with 16 points while Emma Cannon and Marshay White tallied 15 points each. Lewis and Cannon also had 10 and 13 rebounds, respectively.

UNCG started the second half much like it ended the first and was able to pull ahead 39-32 with only three minutes gone in the half but several UNCG miscues got the Golden Knights back into the game and put them ahead 43-43 at the 15:58 mark. The Spartans wouldn’t go away and forced the Knights into three quick turnovers which turned into seven UNCG points, giving the Spartans a 54-48 lead at the 11:48 mark.

The Golden Knights went on a 6-0 run before a bucket from Brittany Frazier but a three pointer from White coupled with several missed layups cut the lead to 60-59 at the 6:47 mark. The teams battled for the rest of the half with neither team taking more than a two-point lead late in the half.

The teams were quite evenly matched through the opening minutes of the game and an early steal from Monique Floyd gave UNCG an early 3-2 advantage. The teams traded buckets early and freshman Monique Floyd, who was extremely active under the bucket, scored five of UNCG’s first nine points.

UCF went on a 7-2 run sparked by buckets from  Wiley and a three-pointer from Jelisa Caldwell to break open a 16-9 lead at the 11: 50 mark of the half. The Spartans were able to force the Knights into several mistakes down the stretch but couldn’t convert on the other end as UCF pulled ahead 21-13 with just over seven minutes left in the half.

The Spartans kept going to the bucket and was able to UNCG hit five consecutive free throws to cap a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 25-23 at the 3:52 mark UNCG used a bucket from Floyd to take their first lead of the game at the 2:20 mark. The Spartans closed the half with a 9-3 run in the last two minutes to sparked by two big three-pointers from Kemena Brooks to take a 37-32 lead into the break.

The Spartans outrebounded the Knights by a 29-15 margin and shot 42.7 percent from the field on 11-of-26 shooting in the first half.

UNCG will take some time off for the holidays before jumping back into Southern Conference play against Furman on Feb. 2. Tip off is set for 7 pm in Timmons Arena.

AGATE
UCF 76, UNCG 73

UNCG (1-10,0-1 SoCon)
BROOKS,Kemena 6-13 6-6 21; FRAZIER,Brittany 4-12 5-8 13; GRIMSLEY,Gini 4-8 0-0 10; FLOYD,Monique 4-6 1-2 9; WADELINGTON,S 2-5 1-1 5; HYSON,Lakiah 2-6 1-3 5; GIRSTAUTAITE,Agne 1-1 2-4 4; DIXON,Jasmine 1-7 2-2 4; LING,Ashley 0-3 2-2 2; CHAMBERLAIN,Meghan 0-2 0-2 0; SMITH,Kendra 0-1 0-0 0; MULLINS,Ashley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-65 20-30 73.

UCF (6-6, 0-0 C-USA)
LEWIS, Tia 7-14 3-4 17; WILEY, Chelsie 5-5 6-10 16; WHITE, Marshay 4-10 5-6 15; CANNON, Emma 3-7 9-13 15; DANIELS, D'Nay 1-6 2-3 4; LONG, Amber 1-1 1-3 3; CALDWELL, Jelisa 1-6 0-0 3; MEALING, Angelica 1-6 0-0 3; PAIGE, Leah 0-0 0-0 0; STOVALL, Jasmine 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 23-56 26-41 76.

Halftime: UNCG 37-32; 3-point goals--UNCG 5-14 (BROOKS,Kemena 3-6; GRIMSLEY,Gini 2-4;WADELINGTON,S 0-1; HYSON,Lakiah 0-1; LING,Ashley 0-1; MULLINS,Ashley 0-1), UCF 4-11 (WHITE, Marshay 2-5; MEALING, Angelica 1-2; CALDWELL, Jelisa 1-3; DANIELS, D'Nay 0-1). Fouled out--UNCG-None, UCF-None. Rebounds--UNCG 47 (FRAZIER,Brittany 14), UCF 41 (LEWIS, Tia 13). Assists--UNCG 10 (BROOKS,Kemena 2; WADELINGTON,S 2; DIXON,Jasmine 2), UCF 11 (WHITE, Marshay 4). Total fouls--UNCG 30, UCF 21. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, UCF-LEWIS, Tia. A-442

- UNCG -