Jan. 21, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. -
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The UCF women's basketball team will host Georgia State on Saturday, January 22 at 2:00 p.m. in the UCF Arena. The Golden Knights (8-6, 6-1 Atlantic Sun) are coming off a 60-45 victory over Mercer, while the Panthers (6-8, 4-3 A-Sun) fell to Florida Atlantic, 72-71, on Thursday night.
UCF is led by senior Ali Roberts, who is averaging 11.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The Golden Knights also have two other players averaging double-digits in points, Celeste Hudson with 10.5 and Francine Houston with 10.1. Junior Shelby Weber leads the team in rebounds with 6.3 boards per game, while sophomore Lashaunda Slade leads in assists with 58.
UCF is currently ranked second in the Atlantic Sun standings behind Lipscomb who is 7-1 in conference play. In the A-Sun statistics, the Golden Knights rank first in scoring defense (57.1 per game), blocked shots (5.64 per game), defensive rebounds (27.07 per game), scoring margin (+1.9), field goal percent defense (.361) and rebounding defense (36.9 per game) and rebounding margin (+3.8).
Individually, Roberts ranks 16th in scoring with 11.2 per game, while Hudson is 19th with 10.2 per game. Houston is ranked 23nd in scoring with 10.1 per game. Slade is fourth in the A-Sun with 4.14 assists per game. Hudson is also ranked fourth in the conference in steals with 2.31 per game. In the blocked shots category, Roberts is ranked second with 2.29 per game, while Weber is fifth with 1.79 and senior Takira Allen is 10th with 0.85.
Last time out, the Golden Knights defeated Mercer 60-45. Hudson led the team in points with 13, while she and Roberts led the team in rebounds with eight apiece. In addition to Hudson being in double-digits, the Black and Gold had two others, Roberts with 11 and Houston with 10. Slade had a career-high seven assists, while Houston had a career-high four steals.
Georgia State is led by Patechia Hartman, who is averaging 16.9 points per game, while only playing in 11 of the Panthers' 14 games. April Cyburn leads the team in rebounds with 9.9 per game, while also scoring 12.7 points per game.
The Panthers are ranked third in the Atlantic Sun behind UCF. In the A-Sun statistics, Georgia State ranks third in scoring defense (62.9 per game) and field goal percentage defense (.367), fourth in defensive rebounds (26.50 per game) and scoring margin (-2.4) and fifth in blocked shots (3.21 per game), rebounding defense (38.7 per game) and rebounding margin (+1.8).
Individually, Hartman ranks second in scoring, while Cyburn ranks eighth. Hartman also ranks second in assists with 4.82 per game and fifth in steals with 2.27 per game. Brittany Hudson ranks 10th in blocked shots with .85 per game.
Last time out, Georgia State was defeated by Florida Atlantic, 72-71. The Panthers had four players in double-digits with Hartman leading the way with 19 while Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen had 14, Cyburn with 12 and Monica Thomas with 10. Cyburn also led the team in rebounds with eight. In addition to the 19 points, Hartman also led the team in assists with six and steals with four. Dee Dee Meriweather also had six assists for the Panthers.
This will be the 40th meeting between the UCF and Georgia State with the Panthers leading the series 29-10. The last time that the Knights and the Panthers met was on February 28, 2004 with the Black and Gold defeating Georgia State, 69-53.
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game. Adults are $5. Youth age 17 and under and seniors age 55 and older are $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.
Mark your calendars for the Saturday, February 5th game when UCF will host Stetson at 2:00 p.m. If you bring a canned food item to the game, you will be admitted for free. All donations will be used to help in the relief of the Tsunami victims.