STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Brittney Smith came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points and lead No. 7 seed UCF past in-state rival Florida 69-52 on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was UCF’s first-ever win over the Gators in program history after 26 consecutive losses. Diamond Battles added 18 points and Masseny Kaba had 14 for the Knights (26-3).

Nina Rickards had 17 points and Zippy Broughton added 12 point for an injury-riddled Florida (21-11).

UCF led just 18-13 after a quarter before getting the ball to Smith early in the second. The American Athletic Conference’s sixth woman of the year scored her team’s first four baskets of that frame and helped extend the lead to 30-15.

A jumper by Florida’s Nina Rickards just before the buzzer sent the teams into halftime with UCF leading 34-23.

Florida cut the deficit to six points in the third, but UCF scored the final eight points of quarter to push the lead back to 51-39 then outscored the Gators 18-13 over the final 10 minutes to secure the win.

The Gators played the second half without center Faith Dut, who scored four points before going down just before halftime grabbing her right ankle and unable to put any weight on that leg. She came out for the second half on crutches.

Florida was already playing without leading scorer Kiara “Kiki” Smith (14.6 points per game), who was lost for the season with a knee injury, and forward Jordyn Merritt (10.1 ppg), who suffered a head injury. Both were hurt during the SEC Tournament.

BIG PICTURE

Florida: The Gators ended the season losing five of six , but finished with their first 20-win season since 2016. That also was the last time the team made the tournament.

UCF: The AAC champions won for the first time in seven NCAA appearances and will head into the second round on a 14-game winning streak.

UP NEXT:

UCF will face No. 2 seed UConn on Monday night. The Huskies routed Mercer 83-38 in their first-round game Saturday. The Knights are 0-13 against all-time against UConn, which went undefeated in its seven years in the American Athletic Conference before leaving the league for the Big East in 2020.