Chippewas unable to complete comeback in road loss to UCF
Junior guard Micaela Kelly walked off the court in frustration after picking up her fifth foul.
Called for a charge as the clock ticked under a minute, Central Michigan's leading scorer would have to watch her teammates attempt to rally from the sideline.
It was not to be.
The Chippewas' women's basketball team (7-4) dropped its first contest since Nov. 17 on Monday night, falling 64-58 to Central Florida (8-4) at CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida.
Kelly continued her streak of dominance, finishing with 26 points. She hit six 3-pointers, including two in the opening quarter. Monday night marked the fourth consecutive game in which Kelly crossed the 20-point barrier.
The Chippewas led 15-11 after the opening quarter, fueled by Kelly's eight points. However, the Knights answered in the second stanza, opening on a 14-2 run to take a 25-17 lead.
Freshman Molly Davis stopped the run with a triple, however, the Chippewas would score only once after that.
Junior guard Maddy Watters scored her only three points of the night on a triple just before the half, and Central Michigan trailed 29-23 heading into the locker room.
Kelly and junior forward Kyra Bussell scored the first five points of the second half to cut the Knight lead to a single point, and Bussell stopped another UCF run with a jumper to cut the Chippewa deficit to three.
However, led by the trio of Sianni Martin, Kay Kay Wright and Masseny Kaba, the Knights went on a 13-2 run to take their largest lead of the contest at 48-34 going into the fourth quarter.
Davis hit her second 3-pointer of the night to cut the lead to 12 early in the final quarter, and Kelly converted a four-point play to keep the Chippewas in it, kickstarting a 12-point fourth quarter.
Davis finished with eight points and seven assists.
Central Michigan cut the deficit to five, but Kelly committed her fifth foul driving to the basket. The charge call signaled the end of her night, and the Knights converted on their free throws to secure the six-point victory.
Bussell finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Coach Heather Oesterle also picked up solid contributions from her bench, as junior forward Gabi Bird finished with eight rebounds while sophomore guard Kalle Martinez and senior forward MacKenna Kelly each hit fourth-quarter triples.
The Knights were led by Wright with 20 points. Kaba had eight points along with 12 boards, while Martin scored 10 points off the bench.
Central Michigan begins the Mid-American Conference portion of its schedule Jan. 4 when it travels to Akron.
