Turnovers and tough shooting from inside the arc led to BYU falling to UCF in the first round of the Big 12 tournament 81-69.
Final pic.twitter.com/ysyzTAyTM8
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) March 5, 2025
The No. 12 seeded Cougars and No. 13 Knights were embroiled in a hard fought affair through three quarters, with UCF holding a 58-57 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, it was UCF, specifically senior guard Kaitlin Peterson, who turned up the offense to knock BYU out of the tournament. Peterson finished with 35 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter.
Delaney Gibb led BYU with 15 points. Amari Whiting and Kemery Congdon added 14 and 11 points respectively.
Gibb, who earlier this week was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, struggled to get into a rhythm with two fouls she got early in the first quarter. That foul trouble threw BYU's leading scoring into an early funk that she was unable to recover from, as she finished shooting from the field 5 of 17.
BYU's turnover problems started early as it finished the first half with 10 turnovers, with eight of those coming in the second quarter. BYU finished the game with 18 turnovers to only 14 assists. Despite the turnover heavy half, BYU went into the half down only down four 33-29.
Coming out of the half, UCF put their foot on the gas and extended their lead halfway through the quarter to seven, 49-42. BYU fought back and went on a 15-9 run to close the quarter, which included this finish from Gibb:
Hookin’ it up
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) March 5, 2025
📺 https://t.co/3jdHnc99Q1 pic.twitter.com/7lD2D08thB
BYU and UCF traded baskets early in the quarter until UCF pulled away with a 23-12 fourth quarter. Peterson led UCF in the closing quarter driving into the paint and putting the UCF team on her back.
BYU finished the game shooting 44.4% from the floor, 47.1% from three and 61.1% from the free throw line. UCF won the rebounding battle 40-30. UCF also finished with 12 steals.
BYU finishes the 2024-25 regular season and Big 12 tournament with a 13-17 record. BYU now awaits to hear if any postseason tournament extends an invitation for postseason play.