March 8, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Golden Knights women's basketball team (18-9, 16-4) will enter the 2005 Coca-Cola Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday, March 10 as the No. 1 seed after clinching first place on February 19 when they defeated Campbell, 81-40. The Knights enter the championship after defeating Lipscomb for the first time in program history to end the 2004-05 campaign.
The Black and Gold will take on No. 8 Mercer in the opening game of the 2005 Coca-Cola Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship at 2 p.m.
This will be the 42nd time that UCF and Mercer have met on the basketball court with the Golden Knights leading the series, 24-17. The Black and Gold defeated the Bears both times this season, 60-45 at home and 64-59 in Macon, Ga.
Celeste Hudson was the high scorer with 13 when the Bears traveled to Orlando, while Ali Roberts led the team in points with 17 at Mercer.
The Golden Knights and Bears met last year in the first round of the 2004 Atlantic Sun Championship with UCF defeating Mercer, 73-58.
If UCF wins, the Golden Knights will take on the winner of the Belmont/Stetson game on Friday at 7 p.m.
If UCF plays Belmont, it will be the ninth time in history with UCF leading the series, 5-3. The Golden Knights and Bruins split the series during the regular season with each team winning at home.
In December, UCF defeated Belmont, 77-42, at the UCF Arena. Sophomore Francine Houston led the Knights with a career-high 29 points, followed by sophomore Keunta Miles who also had a career-high 15 points. Senior Takira Allen and junior Shelby Weber paced the Black and Gold in rebounds with eight apeice. Hollie Davis led the way for Belmont with 12 points, while Brandi Miller had nine rebounds.
When the teams played in Nashville, Tenn., Belmont defeated UCF 63-49. Houston led the Knights again with 13 points followed closely by Allen who had 12. Weber topped the Black and Gold in rebounds with eight. Jenny Conkle paced the Bruins with 17 points followed by Davis. Miller led Belmont in rebounds with 16.
If UCF plays Stetson, it will be the 58th time that the Golden Knights and the Hatters have met on the basketball court with UCF leading the series, 32-25. The Black and Gold defeated Stetson both times this season, winning 65-45 in DeLand and 54-49 in Orlando.
When the teams played in DeLand, Hudson topped the Knights in points with 21 followed by Allen who had 10. Houston paced the team in rebounds with 12. Stetson was led by Kristy Brown who recorded a double-double by netting 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
In front of a televised Sun Sports audience, Roberts led the Knights with 15 points when UCF took on Stetson in Orlando. Weber paced the team in rebounds with nine. Brown netted 13 points for the Hatters followed closely by Janene Maclin and Nefertiti Walker, who each had 12. Maclin recorded a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds.
Allen and Roberts have both surpassed the 500 mark in rebounds during the 2004-05 season. Allen reached the feat on December 13 when the Knights played the University of Miami in Miami. She has currently grabbed 601 career boards at UCF.
Roberts reached 500 at home against Florida Atlantic on January 3, three weeks after Allen. For her career, Roberts has brought down 596 career rebounds as a Golden Knight.
Along with reaching 500 career rebounds, Allen has also surpassed the 1,000 mark in points, which she accomplished on February 24 at Troy. Roberts is five points away from 1,000 career points at UCF. She has averaged 8.5 points per game over the last four years.
Allen, Roberts and Weber all recorded double-doubles this season for UCF. Allen recorded two, one against Gardner-Webb (20 points/10 rebounds) and one against Troy (17 points/11 rebounds). Roberts recorded her double-double against Florida Atlantic (18 points/11 rebounds), the same night she record 500 career rebounds. Weber's first career double-double came against Colgate (13 points/12 rebounds) in the UCF Christmas Tournament.
This will be UCF's 12th time going to the Atlantic Sun Tournament since joining the conference in 1992. The Golden Knights boast a 15-10 (.516 winning percentage) tournament record, good enough for third highest among current A-Sun teams. Lipscomb (1.000 winning percentage) and Georgia State (.529 winning percentage) are ahead of UCF.
All of UCF's games in the 2005 Coca-Cola Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship will be aired live over the internet at www.ucfathletics.com. Saturday's final is slated to air on Fox Sports/Sun Sports Network at 4 p.m. est.