Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- BYU women's basketball team secured consecutive Big 12 wins, defeating UCF 73-66.
- Delaney Gibb and Brinley Cannon led BYU with 19 and 13 points, respectively.
- Coach Amber Whiting emphasized reducing turnovers as BYU prepares for upcoming games.
PROVO — Stacking wins have been a struggle for the BYU women's basketball team in Big 12 play, but Wednesday night came together.
Delaney Gibb tied the game-high with 19 points and five assists, and Brinley Cannon added a career-best 13 points and three assists off the bench as BYU held off UCF 73-66 for a second consecutive win — the first such streak since Big 12 play began Dec. 21 — in front of 2,153 fans at the Marriott Center.
Amari Whiting stuffed the stat sheet with 9 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals for BYU (12-10, 3-8 Big 12). Emma Calvert supplied 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots; and reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week Kambree Barber contributed 7 points and 11 rebounds for the Cougars.
Kaitlin Peterson led UCF with 19 points, Nevaeh Brown added 15 points and three assists, and Achol Akot had 11 points and four rebounds for the Knights, who shot just 34.8% from the field.
But UCF (8-13, 1-10 Big 12) scored 19 points off 19 BYU turnovers to force a single-possession game in the final minute despite trailing by as much as 11 with 3:25 remaining.
"We've got to fix our turnovers," BYU coach Amber Whiting said. "That was a huge eyesore for me in this game. But (UCF) takes really good care of the ball, they're tough to handle, and that's tough to guard sometimes."
BYU shot just 31.6% from the field in the first quarter and trailed the Knights by as much as 7. But Cannon swished a 3-pointer in the final seconds to pull the Cougars within three, 17-14, at the quarter break.
Congdon capped a 10-2 run with a triple that lifted BYU in front 19-17. But UCF held the Cougars to just four more field goals the rest of the half en route to a 30-29 edge at the break.
Peterson — who crossed the 1,000-point mark on her career — had 9 points and three rebounds to lead the Knights, and Brown also scored 9 for a UCF that out rebounded the hosts 12-10 in the second quarter.
"They had great, great energy," UCF coach Sytia Messer said. "And they fought to the end. We were excited about coming into this environment ... and our kids were excited about coming into this opportunity to try to steal one."
BYU outscored the Knights 23-15 in the third quarter, including an and-one play by Cannon that gave the Cougars a 52-45 lead en route to a 52-47 advantage at the quarter break.
The hosts shot 61.5% from the field in the third quarter, held the Knights to 35% and outscored UCF 3-1 from the 3-point line — but led by just 5 points. What was the discrepancy?
UCF scored 13 points off 13 turnovers, including five giveaways in the third quarter that led to 9 points to keep the visitors within arms' reach.
But the Knights connected on just 5-of-14 from the field in the final quarter, and Cannon stretched the lead as high as 67-56 after finishing off a transition play following Calvert's block with 3:34 remaining.
UCF forced three turnovers to claw back into the game with an 8-0 run, and Peterson pulled the Knights within a single possession, 67-64, with a pair of free throws with a minute left.
The Knights drew Calvert's fifth foul on an off-ball violation with 30 seconds left, but Akot missed two free throws with 27 seconds left, Gibb secured the rebound, and made a four free throws and Barber knocked down two to seal consecutive wins following Saturday's 77-67 road triumph over Arizona State.
"We played like we kind of had nothing to lose," Cannon said. "We just tried to come together, play smart, and have fun out there. I think when we play with that joy, we take care of business better. We're more confident in ourselves."
BYU hits the road again for three of the next four games away from the Marriott Center, beginning Saturday at Baylor (6 p.m. MST, ESPN+). The Cougars are back home next Saturday, Feb. 15 to host Oklahoma State (3 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
