Times wires
Thursday, March 10, 2011
EL PASO, Texas — UCF coach Joi Williams delivered a fiery halftime speech Thursday, reminding her senior class it was one half away from turning in its uniforms.
"It's like a hurricane," senior guard D'Nay Daniels said of the speech.
Junior guard Aisha Patrick added that everyone in the locker room was trembling after the pep talk.
The No. 2-seeded Knights responded, erasing a 15-point UAB lead to claim a 51-47 win in the second round of the Conference USA tournament.
UCF (20-10) trailed 27-12 at the half. It was the largest deficit UCF has overcome to claim a win this season.
In a battle of C-USA's top two defensive teams, the Blazers (16-5) held the Knights to their fewest first-half points this season.
"At halftime, we just really talked about buckling down and getting stops," Williams said. " … We challenged them not to watch the scoreboard, to just play every possession, and they did that."
UCF tightened its defensive pressure, rebounded well, ran its offense efficiently and dived after loose balls as it outscored UAB 39-20 during the second half.
The victory pushed the Knights to 20 wins this season, the most for the program since the 1998-99 season.
Daniels led UCF with 18 points and seven rebounds.
UCF plays Memphis, which defeated Rice 63-52, at 11 a.m. today for a spot in the title game.
coppin state 76, famu 64: The Rattlers (15-15) lost a MEAC quarterfinal game in Winston-Salem, N.C. Florida A&M fell behind 36-30 at halftime.