Jan. 12, 2006
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ORLANDO- The UCF women's basketball team faces two of the top scoring teams in Conference USA when the Golden Knights host Tulane on Friday at 7 p.m. and UTEP on Sunday at 5 p.m. The game against the Miners will be broadcast live by CSTV, marking the first national telecast in program history.
In their inaugural season in C-USA, the Golden Knights are searching for their first league win.
Tickets for both games are still available by calling (407) UCF-GOLD. On Sunday, the team is hoping to break the program's attendance record. In an effort to accomplish this feat, UBS Financial purchased 2,000 tickets to be given away to fans on a first come, first served basis by calling (407) UCF-1000.
SCOUTING TULANE... The Green Wave brings a 6-5 overall record and a 1-2 mark in conference play to Orlando on Friday night. Three players are averaging double figures in scoring, including sophomore forward Jennifer Sands with a team-high 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds an outing.
TU averages 69.3 points a game to rank second behind Tulsa in Conference USA. In addition, Tulane tops the league in rebounding defense (35.4) and is third in rebounding offense (40.5), which gives the Green Wave the second best rebounding margin in the league (+5.2). The team is also No. 1 in assists with 178 and third in assist/turnover ratio at 0.86.
THE SERIES VS. TULANE... The Golden Knights and Green Wave have met previously on three occasions with Tulane leading, 2-1. UCF was handed a 117-97 loss the last time out during the 1986-87 season.
SCOUTING UTEP... Riding a six-game winning streak, the Miners enter the weekend with a 10-5 overall record and a 2-1 mark in C-USA. They also boast the top scoring offense (72.5), scoring defense (59.9) and scoring margin (+12.5) in the league.
UTEP is led by Kasia Krezel (15.9 ppg) and Izabela Piekarska (13.9 ppg). Piekarska tops the team in rebounds with 7.2 per outing as well. The Miners also claim the reigning conference player of the week in junior guard Ana Valtierra, who averaged 18.5 points in two games against Tulsa and SMU last weekend.
THE SERIES VS. UTEP... The Golden Knights have competed against the Miners only one other time. During the 1997-98 season, UTEP beat UCF, 80-56.
SEEING DOUBLE-DOUBLE... Three Golden Knights have recorded double-doubles during the 2005-06 season and in fact, UCF players have posted double-doubles in five of the last six games.
Senior forward Shelby Weber has added four double-doubles to her two from last year for a career total of six. 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 added two consecutive double-doubles against Miami (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Quinnipiac (17 points, 10 rebounds) in December. Her most recent double-double came at Rice on Jan. 8 when she put up 15 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
During the previous game at Houston on Jan. 6, senior guard LaShay King earned her first career double-double with a season-high 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Also posting the first of her career was junior forward Juliana Gomes, who accomplished the feat against Santa Clara on Nov. 28 when she had a career night with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
CLOSING ON A MILESTONE... Shelby Weber began the current season with 390 career rebounds and after adding 105 boards this year, she is just five short of the 500 mark. If she accomplishes the feat, Weber will be the third athlete in two years to do so as Ali Roberts and Takira Allen reached the milestone during the 2004-05 season.
Currently, 14 players in UCF history have grabbed 500 boards. Of those athletes, five have done so during Coach Gail Striegler's tenure.
LONG EFFORT... Sophomore guard Amber Long had a career night against Southern Miss as she scored a game-high 16 points. She went 5-for-8 from field goal range and hit five of seven attempts from the foul line in the effort.
After her performance against the Golden Eagles, Long also earned a starting role in the contest at Rice, sinking 12 points and pulling down five rebounds.
CROWDED HOUSE... The Golden Knights are aiming to break the program's home attendance record when they try to "Pack the House" with fans for Jan. 15th's game against UTEP. CSTV is scheduled to air the game live at 5 p.m.
UCF's current attendance record is 876, a mark that was set on Feb. 2, 2002 when the Golden Knights hosted Campbell.
GOLD SMITH... Shayla Smith has made the most of her final season with the Black & Gold. The senior guard is currently third on the team, averaging 8.7 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 is second among the league players in three-point field goal percentage (47.2%) and in assist/turnover ratio (2.33).
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 69 helpers to her 194 from the previous three years, King sits in fifth with 263.
Prior to the start of this season, Smith appeared on the list in ninth with 219 assists. With 42 assists this season, she now has 261 during her career and has moved to sixth place all-time at UCF.
Currently, Marcie Swilley is in fourth place with 326 assists.
Among conference players, King is tied for second with 4.93 assists per game, while Smith is 12th at 3.23.
HOUSTON ROCKET... Junior guard Francine Houston stepped up to lead the UCF offense early in the season and still remains atop the stat sheet with 14.4 points per game. Through games of Jan 9, Houston was 10th in the conference in scoring, while she was first in three-point field goals made (2.93).
Twice this season Houston has been recognized for her performance on the court. The first time was as a member of the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team. In two games against Butler and Princeton, she averaged 23 points. 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.
In December, Houston was also named to the UCF Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. She recorded 14.5 points per game and went 10-for-10 from the foul line in contests against Central Michigan and UT-Arlington.
COMING OUT OF HER SHELL... Named one of Conference USA's Players to Watch, forward Shelby Weber is certainly proving that moniker was well-deserved as she continues to shine during her final season with the Black & Gold. In addition to her team-leading four double-doubles, Weber currently leads UCF on the boards, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game, which ranks her eighth in the conference. She is also second on the team in scoring with 8.9 per contest.
Weber leads the team in blocks with 17 and is ranked fifth in C-USA with 1.21 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 six of the 13 contests she has played this season and is averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 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 West Virginia, Princeton, Santa Clara, Central Michigan and Quinnipiac.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN... The Golden Knights logged some serious travel miles before returning to Orlando for the UCF Holiday Classic from Dec. 16-17. 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 finished the road swing with a trip to Alabama, where they squared 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.