Women's basketball finishes 2-0 in Cancún Challenge

UCF Women’s Basketball fought its way to a perfect 2-0 weekend at the Cancún Challenge in Mexico's Riviera Maya.

In the first of two games, UCF took on the Idaho State University Bengals on Friday night, resulting in a 58-41 victory that also marked Knights Head Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's 350th career win.

The Knights got off to a slow start as the Bengals went on a 12-4 run in the first four minutes of the game, following a pair of early threes by graduate student guard Dora Goles. The Knights would eventually heat up, cutting that lead to two to close out the half 15-13 in favor of the Bengals.

The Knights kept rhythm in the second quarter, outscoring the Bengals 14-9 behind a 12-point combined performance from fifth-year guard Tay Sanders and senior guard Diamond Battles. The second quarter was a strong defensive display by the Knights, posting 10 turnovers and pushing past the Bengals for a 27-24 lead at halftime.

The second half of the game was smooth sailing for the Knights. UCF opened the half on a 10-0 run in the first four minutes and would go on to outscore the Bengals 31-17, allowing the Knights to move on and face the University of Southern California Trojans on Saturday. 

The Knights went to Mexico with a 3-1 record and recognition from the USA Today NCAA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Before the trip to Cancún, Mexico, Battles, who leads UCF in scoring for the fourth time this season, said how important it is to keep their heads down and power through the season.

"Just moving forward, we need to focus on the game plan, see how the game plan works, lock in and get better each game," said Battles, managing a career best of 24 points on 67% shooting from the field against Idaho State.

Defensively, the Knights outshined the Bengals, forcing 28 turnovers on 15 steals. Junior guard Alisha Lewis led the team with four steals on the game.

In the Knights’ second and final game of the Cancún Challenge, they clawed their way past the USC Trojans to pull out a 56-47 win in a physical game.

The first half of the game saw poor shooting from both teams, with the Knights shooting just 7-27 from the field and the Trojans with 7-25 shooting. What kept the Knights in trouble in the half was 4-9, 3-point shooting by the Trojans, giving them a 23-17 lead at halftime. Despite being unable to make shots from 3-point range and going 0-6, the Knights gave a strong defensive showing, swarming to the ball and forcing a total of six steals in the first half, which kept the Trojans on their toes going into halftime.

The third quarter exemplified the physicality of this game. The chirping back and forth between the Trojans and the Knights could be heard from the seats, especially on a foul by Knights junior forward Destiny Thomas on Trojans junior forward Alissa Pili, in which both players could be seen jawing back and forth. The Knights managed to put together a 17-point third quarter to bring the Knights within six down, 40-34.

Despite being down 45-36 with under seven minutes left in the game, the Knights did not let up. The Knights found rhythm on offense, going on a 20-2 run in the final 6:40 of the game, allowing just 7 points in the fourth quarter. The Knights stayed physical around the ball, forcing 13 steals and 19 turnovers on the game. Lewis, Sanders and Thomas all had three steals on the game.

Battles showed grit once again as the Knights’ leading scorer with 13 points on 4-14 shooting, going 5-6 from the stripe. She also racked up six rebounds, three assists and was named MVP of the Cancún Challenge. Battles' teammate senior forward Brittney Smith was also recognized for her stellar performance, receiving all-tournament honors for averaging 10.5 points and four rebounds per game, as well as shooting 66.7% from the floor.

UCF will face the University of Arkansas Razorbacks for its second Southeastern Conference matchup of the season. The Razorbacks’ only loss this season was a 15-point fall to the No. 3-ranked University of Connecticut Huskies. Abrahamson-Henderson said playing good competition right out of the gate is good for the team.

"Every game we play, we are playing very good competition," Abrahamson-Henderson said. "We make sure we are playing good RPI (Rating Percentage Index) and good NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) teams that we play early, so that we can get more than one or two teams that are in the NCAA tournament."

The Knights will host the Razorbacks at the Addition Financial Arena on Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.