Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Senior Joyce Iamstrong (Chicago, Ill./Thornton Fractional South HS/Jefferson College) finished a team-high 12 points as the FGCU women's basketball team has its 16-game home winning streak snapped with a 60-53 non-conference loss to UCF Saturday night at Alico Arena.
With the win, UCF ended the nation's ninth-longest home winning streak, picked up their first win against the Eagles and improved to 5-8 overall, while the Green and Blue fell to 6-5 on the season.
The Eagles, who rank 16th in the nation in three-point field goals per game (7.8) this season, knocked down nine shots from behind the arc, led by two treys from Iamstrong and redshirt-seniors Betsy Adams (Monticello, Ind./Twin Lakes HS/Valpo) and Lerrin Cook (Kearny, Ariz./Ray HS/Yavapai College).
Iamstrong finished with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 from long distance. She also added six rebounds, one assist and one steal. Redshirt junior Sarah Hansen (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane HS) tallied 11 points, her 10th double figure scoring performance of the season, to go with five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal. Hansen with her layup at the 16:46 mark of the second half moved past former FGCU great Kate Schrader on the all-time scoring list and now sits in fourth place (1,069) behind Shannon Murphy (1,185). Redshirt senior Brittany Kennedy (Spokane, Wash./Lewis and Clark HS/Oregon State) filled the stat sheet with seven points, seven boards, eight assists and a season-high seven steals.
FGCU opened the game with a 9-3 run, highlighted by six points from freshman Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community HS), over the first 4:43 of the half. UCF responded by outscoring the Eagles 19-12 over the next 10:32 to take a 22-21 lead with just under five minutes left in the opening period.
Adams and Iamstrong drained back-to-back triples to give the Green and Blue a 27-22 advantage (3:05). After UCF's head coach called her second timeout of the half, the Knights outscored the Eagles 6-4 over the final 2:42 of the period as FGCU took a 31-28 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
Iamstrong and Adams led the Eagles with eight points each in the first half. They duo combined to shoot 4-for-11 from behind the arc, as FGCU shot 40.6 percent (13-for-32) from the floor and 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from behind the three-point line. UCF shot 35.7 percent (10-for-28) from the field and hit three of their 10 attempts from long distance in the opening 20 minutes.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle. The Knights scored five unanswered points midway through the period to cut their deficit down to one point, 42-41, with 10:43 left in regulation.
After forcing the Eagles into their third shot-clock violation of the second half, the Knights used a 5-2 run to take a 47-44 lead (5:07). The Green and Blue responded with back-to-back treys from Hansen and Cook to take a 50-47 advantage with 4:18 left on the clock.
UCF then used an 11-3 over the final 3:41 of the second period to knock off the Eagles. FGCU missed six three-point attempts in the final 2:27 seconds as they tried to use the three-ball to claw their way back within striking distance.
The Eagles will take a couple days off for the Christmas holiday and then return to 'The Nest' at Alico Arena for their final non-conference contest tilt. FGCU will host on the Tigers of LSU on Dec. 28. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
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