Feb. 2, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
ORLANDO- The UCF women's basketball team (5-15, 3-6 Conference USA) returns to the road for the second consecutive weekend as it will take on two of the top three teams in Conference USA, visiting Southern Miss (9-11, 6-3 C-USA) for a 6 p.m. ET tip-off on Saturday followed by an 8 p.m. ET meeting with Tulsa (16-4, 7-2 C-USA) on Monday.
The Golden Knights are coming off a 1-1 trip a week ago when they earned their first C-USA road win - a 65-54 decision over Memphis - and took a 90-78 loss at the hands of UAB.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS... Thanks to a well-balanced offense, the Golden Eagles enter the weekend tied with SMU for second in the conference rankings with a 6-3 C-USA record and a 9-11 overall mark. No fewer than four players are averaging double figures in scoring, with freshman guards Kendra Reed and Ashley Boehnel each averaging more than 14 points per outing. On the boards, freshman Amber Eugene is pulling down a team-high 6.9 per game.
Southern Miss boasts the best free throw percentage in the league with 74.5% accuracy from the charity stripe, while the team is second in field goal percentage (42.1%) and three-point field goal percentage (35.4%).
THE SERIES VS. SOUTHERN MISS... The Golden Eagles are a perfect 5-0 all-time against the Golden Knights, including a 61-50 victory at UCF Arena on New Year's Eve.
SCOUTING TULSA... Entering the weekend riding a five-game winning streak, the Golden Hurricane sit atop the C-USA standings with a 7-2 league mark and a 16-4 record overall. The team is also leading the conference in scoring offense (69.7), scoring defense (58.3), field goal percentage (43.1%) and three-point field goal percentage (36.6%).
Junior Lillian Robbins leads all C-USA players with 18.8 points and 14.1 rebounds per outing, while seniors Megan Moody (12.9 ppg) and Emily Jaskowiak (10.8) are also contributing double figures on the scoreboard.
THE SERIES VS. TULSA... The Golden Knights are meeting the Golden Hurricane for the first time on the hardwood.
COACHING CONNECTION... In her first season as an assistant coach at Tulsa, LaTricia Gunnells served in a similar position at UCF for the previous two seasons.
ALMOST PERFECT... Senior Shelby Weber recorded a nearly perfect game when she scored a career-high 25 points at UAB. She sank eight of nine shots from the field with the only miss coming from behind-the-arc with 37 seconds remaining on the clock. She also went 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
LONG ON EFFORT... Sophomore guard Amber Long has been making an impression on C-USA opponents. After pouring in a game-high 16 points against Southern Miss on New Year's Eve, she scored a career-high 18 points against Tulane on Jan. 13. Long also grabbed a career-high eight boards in the win over UTEP on Jan. 15 and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field with a team-high 15 points against East Carolina on Jan. 22.
Her efforts have earned a starting role in seven of the nine league games. She averages a team-high 11.2 points per conference contest. She also ranks sixth in overall UCF scoring with 6.3 points per game.
RETURN OF THE KING... Not to be outdone by Amber Long, LaShay King has also stepped up her game against league foes. The senior guard hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to give UCF the final advantage in the hard-fought win over UTEP on Jan. 15.
Among her other highlights during the current season was against Houston on Jan. 6, when she recorded her first career double-double with a career-best 15 points and 12 boards.
She leads the team in assists with 95 and is listed fifth among C-USA players with 4.75 helpers per outing. Elsewhere on the court, she is fourth on UCF with 8.0 points per conference game, while she is third in overall points per contest with 7.5.
JOINING AN ELITE CLUB... Senior forward Shelby Weber became a member of an elite club when she grabbed her 500th career rebound against Tulane on Jan. 13. The senior forward started the 2005-06 season with 390 career rebounds and after adding 131 boards this year, she now has 521. She needs 21 more boards to crack the program's all-time career rebounding list. Christine Strahl currently sits at No. 10 with 542 to her credit.
Weber became the third athlete in two years to eclipse the 500-rebound mark as both Ali Roberts and Takira Allen reached the milestone during the 2004-05 season. Of those 15 athletes that have accomplished the feat, six have done so during Coach Gail Striegler's tenure.
Weber has led UCF on the boards in 12 of 20 contests this season. She tops the team and is ninth in the conference with an average of 7.2 rebounds per game.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION... Three Golden Knights have recorded double-doubles during the 2005-06 season.
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.
GOLD SMITH... Shayla Smith has made the most of her final season with the Black & Gold. After scoring a career-high 18 points at Troy on Dec. 11, the senior guard recorded a career-best eight assists against Marshall on Jan. 20. She is currently third on the team, averaging 7.5 points per game.
Smith has also made her presence known in the conference rankings as she is second among all C-USA players and eighth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.24). She is tied for 11th with 3.32 assists pre game.
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 95 helpers to her 194 from the previous three years, King sits in fifth with 289.
Prior to the start of this season, Smith appeared on the list in ninth with 219 assists. With 63 assists this season, she now has 282 during her career and has moved to sixth place all-time at UCF.
Currently, Marcie Swilley is in fourth place with 326 assists.
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 13.1 points per game. Through games of Jan. 30, Houston was 13th in the conference in scoring, while she led all players in three-point field goals made (2.80).
For the second time this year, Houston tied the school record for most three-pointers in a game when she went 7-for-16 from behind the arc against Marshall on Jan. 20. She first met the mark going 7-for-10 on Nov. 26 against Princeton.
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.
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.
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 12 of the 19 contests she has played this season and is averaging 4.4 points and 2.7 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.
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.