ORLANDO, Fla. – The Omaha women's basketball team fell at UCF, 81-41, on Tuesday afternoon at CFE Arena. The Mavericks are now 6-6 (0-0 Summit League) overall, while the Knights improve to 10-2 (0-0 AAC).
Senior forward Mikaela Shaw registered her second double-double of the season and 22nd of her career with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Shaw also recorded four assists, a steal and a block.
Sophomore center Courtney Vaccher had eight points and a blocked shot, while senior guard Michaela Dapprich added five points.
Aliyah Gregory led UCF with 18 points and seven assists and shot 9-of-15 from the field. Fifi Hdour added 15 points and four steals, while Zykira Lewis chipped in 11 points and five steals.
The Knights shot .429 (33-of-77) for the afternoon, but .200 (2-of-10) from 3-point distance. UNO was limited to .395 shooting (17-of-43), including .133 (2-of-15) behind the arc. UCF also forced 29 Maverick turnovers, scoring 37 points off miscues.
The Mavericks took a 7-4 lead midway through the first quarter on a layup from Vaccher. The Knights used a 10-4 run to close out the first period and took a 14-11 advantage heading into the second quarter.
UCF used a 10-2 outburst to push its lead to double-digits early in the second stanza. A Shaw layup with 5:43 left in the quarter cut the deficit to 24-15. Central Florida ended the period with a 12-7 run and took a 36-22 lead at halftime.
A jumper from junior guard Remy Davenport cut the lead to 12 early in the second half. UCF responded with nine unanswered points and pushed its lead to 21. The Mavericks reduced the Knights lead to 15 on five straight points from Shaw and a 3-pointer by junior guard Moriah Dapprich. Over the next 3:30, UCF outscored UNO 7-4 to take a 54-37 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
The Knights held UNO scoreless for 6:42 in the fourth quarter, helping UCF to the 81-41 decision.
Omaha opens Summit League play on Wednesday, Dec. 28, welcoming Oral Roberts. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and Donny Baarns will have the call on 1180 Zone 2. Fans can stream the audio on their smartphones by downloading NRG Media's app "1620 The Zone," and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
