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Dec. 17, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF women's basketball team will host the 2004 Christmas Classic. Participating in the tournament will be Colgate, Marshall and FIU. The Knights will take on Colgate Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by FIU and Marshall at 3 p.m. On Sunday, Colgate and Marshall will play at 1 p.m. with UCF and FIU to follow at 3 p.m.
UCF will enter the weekend 2-5 on the season after defeating UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev. and conference rival Belmont, while Colgate comes in with a 3-5 record after defeating St. Bonaventure, Wagner and Albany. FIU enters with a 6-2 record after defeating Miami, Florida Atlantic and Northwestern.
The Knights are led by sophomore Francine Houston who is averaging 10.7 points per game and is currently ranked 17th among A-Sun players in scoring.
Junior Shelby Weber leads the Knights in rebounds with 6.1 per game and is currently ranked 14th among A-Sun players in rebounds per game. Weber also has a .938 (15-for-16) percentage from the charity stripe, good enough for third in the conference.
Sophomore Lashaunda Slade paces the Knights in assists with 25, while also ranking fourth among A-Sun players with 3.57 per game.
As a team, UCF is currently ranked first in the Atlantic Sun for scoring defense (59.1 per game), second in field goal percentage defense (.359) and third in scoring margin (-3.6) and rebounding defense (39.9 per game).
Allison Lipinski leads Colgate averaging 15.1 points per game. Lipinski is shooting .374 (40-107) from the field, .323 (21-65) from behind the arc and .800 (20-25) from the charity line.
Emily Braseth leads the Raiders in boards averaging 7.4 rebounds per game. Braseth is also second on the team in points per game with 13.8.
As a team, Colgate is averaging 69.9 points per game, while giving up 73.2. The Raiders are shooting .411 from the field, .321 from behind the arc and .715 from the free throw line.
This will be the second time that UCF and Colgate have met on the basketball court with the Knights leading the series 1-0. UCF won the previous meeting 90-84 in 2001.
Milena Tomova leads FIU in points averaging 20.4 per game. Lasma Jekabsone leads the Golden Panthers with 9.4 boards per game.
FIU is averaging 60.9 points per game, while allowing opponents to score 53.1 points per game. The Golden Panthers are shooting .404 from the field, .362 from the three-point line and .671 from the free throw line.
Sunday's game will be the 33rd time that UCF and FIU have met on the basketball court with FIU leading the series 25-7. The last time that the Knights and the Panthers met was in the 1997-98 season with FIU defeating UCF 113-59.
Tickets are still available for the Christmas Tournament. Adults are $5. Youth age 17 and under and seniors age 55 and older pay $3. Children under five and UCF students with a valid UCF student I.D. are admitted free. Tickets for all Golden Knights women's basketball games are available at the door and by calling (407) UCF-GOLD.