Dec. 30, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF women's basketball team makes its Conference USA debut Saturday, Dec. 31 against Southern Miss. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the UCF Arena. The Golden Knights enter the game with a 2-9 season record, while the Golden Eagles come in with a 3-8 mark.
The Golden Knights are coming off a 71-55 loss to the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Dec. 28. Senior forward Shelby Weber led the Golden Knights with her fifth career double-double when she scored a career-high 17 points with 10 boards. Senior guard LaShay King was also in double-digits for UCF with 11 points.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS... The Golden Eagles enter the game against UCF with a 3-8 record. Southern Miss was defeated by Louisiana-Monroe, 75-67, Dec. 28. Freshman Kendra Reed led the team with a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds), while Ashley Boehnel (10), Liz Biland (10), Amber Eugene (11) and Ashley Harrell (20) were also in double-digits for Southern Miss. Kristin Chaney paced the team in assists (8) and steals (4).
THE SERIES VS. SOUTHERN MISS... Southern Miss leads the all-time series 5-0. The Golden Knights and Golden Eagles last met on Nov. 26, 2004 in Orlando with Southern Miss walking away with the 59-54 victory. Claudia Johnson paced UCF with 16 points, while Ali Roberts had nine rebounds.
PACK THE HOUSE... The Golden Knights want to "Pack the House" with fans Sunday, Jan. 15 when the UTEP Miners come to town for UCF's first ever nationally televised game. CSTV will air the game live which is slated to begin at 5 p.m.
CLOSING IN A MILESTONE... Shelby Weber began the 2005-06 season with 390 career rebounds. Since the first game of the season, Weber has pulled down 84 boards to give her a career total of 474 rebounds. If she reaches 500 rebounds, Weber will be the third athlete in two years to do so with Ali Roberts and Takira Allen reaching the milestone during the 2004-05 season.
GOLD SMITH... Shayla Smith has made the most of her final season with the Black & Gold. The senior guard is currently second on the team, averaging 9.3 points per game after scoring a career-high 18 points at Troy Dec. 11.
More than that, Smith has made her presence known in the conference rankings as she tops league athletes in three-point field goal percentage (55.2%) and is second among league players in assist/turnover ratio (2.60).
LENDING A HAND... Senior guards Shayla Smith and LaShay King will each be leaving their mark on the UCF record books at the end of the season. Both are ranked on the school's list for most assists in a career. Adding a team-high 51 helpers to her 194 from the previous three years, King sits in seventh with 245.
Prior to the start of this season, Smith appeared on the list in ninth with 219 assists. With 39 assists this season, she now has 258 during her career and has jumped to fifth place all-time at UCF. Her next hurdle is Marcie Swilley's fourth-place mark of 326 assists.
Among conference players, King is listed sixth with 4.64 assists per game, while Smith is eighth at 3.55.
HOUSTON ROCKET... Junior guard Francine Houston has stepped up to lead the UCF offense early in the season. She tops the stat sheet with 16.4 points per game. Through games of Dec. 28, Houston was third in the conference in scoring, while she was first in three-point field goals made (3.27).
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.
SEEING DOUBLE-DOUBLE... Two Golden Knights have already recorded double-doubles early in the 2005-06 season. Senior forward Shelby Weber has added three double-doubles to her two from last year for a career total of five. Her first double-double of the season came against Butler in the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 25 when she scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds. Weber picked up her second double-double of the season against in-state rival Miami on Dec. 20 with 15 points and 11 rebounds. On Dec. 28, she recorded her third double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Quinnipiac.
Junior forward Juliana Gomes earned the first double-double of her career against Santa Clara on Nov. 28 when she had a career night with 11 points and 10 rebounds.