Dec. 8, 2005
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ORLANDO - The UCF women's basketball team (1-5) visits former Atlantic Sun Conference rival Troy (3-1) on Sunday for a 3 p.m. (ET) tip-off as the Golden Knights wind down a five-game road swing and would like nothing more to return to home for next weekend's UCF Holiday Classic with another tally in the win column.
On Dec. 4, the Golden Knights fell 81-49 to in-state rival Florida State in Tallahassee. Junior guard Francine Houston, a transfer from FSU prior to the 2003 season, sank 13 points against her former team, but it wasn't enough to counter the Seminoles dangerous outside shooting.
SCOUTING TROY... The Lady Trojans, who are now members of the Sun Belt Conference, opened the season with a three-game winning streak before dropping a 68-60 loss at Samford in their first road game. Troy boasts three players averaging in double figures on the scoreboard as sophomore guard Amy Lewis leads the team with 13.8 points per game followed by junior forward Audrey Muse (13.0 ppg) and junior guard Laura Lee Holman (12.0 ppg).
The Lady Trojans are both outscoring and outrebounding their opponents this season and have recorded an impressive 44.7 shooting percentage from the field.
THE SERIES VS. TROY... The Golden Knights and Lady Trojans have met 12 previous times on the hardwood and are tied at 6-6 in all-time. The two teams split the home-and-home series the last two consecutive seasons. Last year, UCF beat Troy, 55-43, at UCF Arena on Jan. 8 before losing 71-50 in Troy, Ala. on Feb. 24.
Troy will also be visiting Orlando on Dec. 16 and 17 as a part of the UCF Holiday Classic.
UCF FOR THREE... The Golden Knights have been dangerous from behind the arc early in the season sinking 37 of their 90 chances or 41.1%. The effort is better than all other teams in C-USA and also ranks 19th in the country.
HOUSTON ROCKET... Junior guard Francine Houston has stepped up to lead the UCF offense early in the season. She continues to be the team's leading scorer in each outing and tops the stat sheet with 19.2 points per game. Through games of Dec. 7, Houston was second in the conference in scoring, while she was first in three-point field goals made (4.0), an effort that also ties her for third in the nation.
In two games against Butler and Princeton in the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic, Houston averaged 23 points and earned all-tournament team honors for her performance. Against the Tigers, she went 7-for-10 (70%) from behind the arc to tie UCF's record for most three-pointers made in a single game. She also sank 23 points at Santa Clara on Nov. 28.
SMITH LENDS A HAND... After recording 24 assists in five games thus far this season, Shayla Smith continues to move up the ranks of UCF's career assists leaders. The senior point guard currently boasts 243, an effort that puts her in sixth place on the list. Her next hurdle is Brinda Green's fifth place mark of 257 assists.
Through games of Dec. 7, Smith boasted the best assist/turnover ratio in C-USA with six assists per turnover. She also had the best three-point field goal percentage at .600 (6-for-10).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE... Two Golden Knights have already recorded double-doubles early in the 2005-06 season. Senior forward Shelby Weber posted her third career double-double when she scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds against Butler in the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 25.
Not to be outdone by her teammate, junior forward Juliana Gomes earned the first double-double of her career three days later as she had a career night with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Santa Clara.
COMING OUT OF HER SHELL... Named one of Conference USA's Players to Watch, senior forward Shelby Weber is certainly proving that the moniker was well-earned as she has already begun to make a mark this year. Weber currently leads UCF on the boards, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, which ranks her 10th in the conference. She is also putting up 8.5 points per outing.
FOREIGN POLICY... Junior forward Juliana Gomes, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the first foreign-born player to don the Black & Gold jersey during head coach Gail Striegler's tenure. The last international members of the UCF women's basketball team were Scandinavians Anu Mahlamaeki, Vukko Timola and Frida Stromquist, who played during the 1997-98 season.
Gomes has started the last three contests and is averaging 5.6 points and five rebounds per contest.
PERFECT STRANGERS... Of the 23 opponents on the 2005-06 schedule, UCF will be meeting 11 of them for the first time in program history. Among them are six Conference USA rivals (Houston, Rice, East Carolina, Memphis, Tulsa and SMU) as well as opponents Princeton and Santa Clara.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN... The Golden Knights have logged some serious travel miles before they return to Orlando for the UCF Holiday Classic on Dec. 16. After opening the season with the Golden Knights Classic, the team flew to Northern California, where it spent Thanksgiving in the San Francisco Bay Area at the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic then took on Santa Clara on Nov. 28 prior to returning home.
On Dec. 4, the Black & Gold visited Florida State. They finish the road swing with a trip to Alabama, where they square off against former A-Sun rival Troy on Dec. 11.
ON THE TUBE... UCF will have two games broadcast on television this season. The Dec. 4 match-up at Florida State was carried live by Sun Sports, while CSTV is set to broadcast UCF's Jan. 15 contest against UTEP, marking the first time that a Golden Knights' game will be nationally televised.
OPENING NIGHT SUCCESS... With the victory over FAMU, the Golden Knights improved to 5-2 in season openers since head coach Gail Striegler took the helm during the 1999-2000 season.
POLLING STATION... In its first season in Conference USA, UCF was chosen to finish sixth of 12 teams by the league coaches in the preseason poll. Rice was picked to capture the title with seven first place votes followed by crosstown rival Houston in second with five first place votes. SMU was third with Marshall and Tulsa rounding out the top five.