When it comes to the War on I-4, you can throw out the records no matter the sport. The UCF women's basketball team proved that theroy on Tuesday night when they left the Sun Dome in Tampa with a 66-62 win over the 22nd-ranked USF Bulls.
The win for the Knights (16-9, 6-6) was the first ever over a nationally-ranked opponent and the first ever win in the Sun Dome. Bulls Head Coach Jose Fernandez reminded his team the importance of this series no matter where the teams are in the season. "We talked to the kids about this, we're in the Top 25, we're an NCAA Tournament team, the history of the series and how important this game is to UCF and it showed by the way they celebrated after the game."
It was a special night for Tampa native and Strawberry Crest high school grad Aliyah Gregory. The junior poured in a career-high 34 points and became the 22nd player in school history to go over one thousand career points, and she did it in front of friends and family in her hometown. "It's an amazing feeling and probably one of the best feelings of my basketball career thus far, so it was good to do it in front of my family and be able to do it in front of my home town."
The loss for the Bulls (20-5, 9-3) snapped a 19-game winning streak against UCF, who had not beaten them since December 10, 1980. USF was led by Maria Jesperson who had 18 points and 8 rebounds in a losing effort.
The Bulls will need to regroup quickly as they will host Temple on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the annual Play4Kay game. It's a crucial showdown for American Athletic Conference Tournament seeding.
UCF returns to CFE Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m. to host East Carolina.