Box Score - Central Florida 77, South Alabama 36 (.pdf)Post Game QuotesPhoto GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – Central Florida shot 50 percent and held the University of South Alabama women's basketball team to just 26.3 percent shooting from the field Tuesday night as the Jaguars fell 77-36 at the Mitchell Center.
USA (1-2) will now break for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action a week from now when the Jaguars host Florida on Dec. 1. Tip-off versus the Gators is set for 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. Live stats and web streaming for the contest can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.
Erin Autio came off the bench and posted career highs in both points (12) and rebounds (9) to lead the South Alabama in the loss. All 12 of Autio's points came in the second half. The redshirt freshman forward was 5-of-13 from the field in 18 minutes of action. LaNeetra Guillory and Colby Davis also chipped in with seven points apiece.
Central Florida improved to 3-1 on the season and was led by Kayla Thigpen's 18 points. Thigpen was 8-of-10 from the floor and also dished out three assists to go along with her four steals in 21 minutes of play.
Joining Thigpen in double figures for the Knights was Zykira Lewis and Ashley Polacek, who ended the night with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
UCF pulled down 43 rebounds, 33 on the defensive end, and was led I that category by Joslyn Massey's 11 points. Nyala Shuler just missed a double-double as she had nine points and nine rebounds.
South Alabama was just 15-of-57 from the floor, while Central Florida was 30-for-60 from the field, including 8-of-18 from the three-point line. USA was 2-of-20 from beyond the arc in the loss.
USA scored on its first offensive possession of the game, but over the next seven minutes, the Jaguars would go scoreless. South Alabama would miss its next nine attempts from the floor and turn the ball over three times.
Central Florida took advantage of the offensive struggles by USA and took the lead with a 12-0 run during that time. Lewis ignited the run for the Knights with a three-pointer from the left corner and later capped off the scoring with a layup at the 2:54 mark.
Davis ended the offensive drought for the Jaguars with a bucket with just over two minutes remaining.
South Alabama was held to just 2-of-17 shooting (11.8 percent) in the opening period and missed all six of its three-point attempts.
Central Florida extended its lead to 19-4 three minutes into the second quarter as the Knights scored on three of its first four possessions. Makenzi Reasor gave UCF the 15-point lead with a bucker at the 7:16 mark of the quarter.
After missing 20 of its previous 21 shot attempts, South Alabama finally got a little offense going, scoring on three-straight possessions. Guillory, making her first collegiate start, knocked down a turnaround jumper in the lane with just under six minutes showing on the clock. India Hall then connected along the right baseline and Davis cut through the defense as she drove the lane for a layup at the 4:45 mark to cut the deficit to 11 (19-8).
From that point on, Central Florida quickly regained the momentum as it ended the half on a 10-0 run. Thigpen recorded five points during the run and UCF also had a pair of and-one plays.
The Knights headed into the locker room with a 31-10 halftime advantage. Central Florida had four players record five points each during the first 20 minutes of action and all but one of the nine players who saw time on the court got into the scoring column.
UCF was 11-of-26 from the floor for 42.3 percent, while South Alabama hit just five of its 30 shot attempts for 16.7 percent and was 0-for-11 from beyond the arc.
"In the first half, I thought we really got shots we wanted. They just did not go in," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "When it was 19-10, if we could have just gotten two stops, which I think we did, and get two scores, then it's 19-14. When we didn't get those scores and they did, our confidence went down from there and theirs just went up. They are a team that came into the game not shooting great from the three, and tonight they went 8-for-18. For us, it's about learning and being able to stay together. We need to work through these storms and let them prepare us for Sun Belt Conference play."
The Knights opened up the third period of play on an 8-0 run and extended their lead out to 39-10 after back-to-back buckets from Thigpen a little over three minutes into the quarter.
Marquita Daniels finally knocked down USA's first trey of the night at the 5:39 mark. The Jaguars had missed their first 13 long-range attempts in the contest.
UCF's Lewis didn't let South Alabama gain any momentum though as she answered with a trey of her own on the ensuing possession and then intercepted a USA pass and raced down the floor for a layup to put Central Florida up 44-13 with less than five to go in the period.
From there, South Alabama was never able to draw any closer as the Knights went on to take the 41-point victory. The 41-point defeat is the worst home loss since Feb. 6, 2010 when the Jaguars fell 100-52 to Middle Tennessee at the Mitchell Center.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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