Feb. 22, 2006
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ORLANDO - The UCF women's basketball team (6-19, 4-10 Conference USA) will have one last opportunity to improve upon its position in the conference standings prior to the 2006 C-USA Championship when the Golden Knights visit Marshall on Friday at 7 p.m. and East Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m.
UCF will use the momentum from its 77-62 win over Memphis in the home finale on Feb. 19 to try to move from 11th to at-best 10th in the league rankings.
DOWN TO THE WIRE... With three sets of teams tied for various spots in the standings, the seeds for the 2006 Conference USA Women's Championship have yet to be determined.
All members of the conference compete in the tournament, although the four squads with the best league records earn first round byes. The teams remaining are seeded 5-12 according to conference records with No. 5 playing No. 12, No. 6 vs. No. 11, No. 7 vs. No. 10 and No. 8 vs. No. 9.
Hosted by SMU in Dallas, Texas, the championship runs from March 2-5. The semifinals on Saturday are scheduled to be aired on CSTV, while the championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. ET.
The bracket for the championship will be announced a 7 p.m. ET on Feb. 26.
SCOUTING MARSHALL... Currently in sole possession of fifth place with an 8-6 league record and a 13-12 overall mark, the Thundering Herd would like nothing more than to move into one of the lucrative top four spots in order to earn a bye in the first round of the C-USA Championship.
Marshall is among the top defensive teams in the conference with top four rankings in scoring defense (64.0), field goal percentage defense (38.3%) and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.5%). Offensively, junior Modupe Ishola has the league's best shooting percentage from floor at 60.9% (106-for-174). Averaging 11.2 points per outing, she ranks just behind the team's leading scorer - senior Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, who has recorded 15 points per game.
COACHING CONNECTION... UCF head coach Gail Striegler served as an assistant under Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick for four years when he guided the women's basketball team at Stephen F. Austin. During that time, the Ladyjacks posted a 97-25 record and made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 1996.
THE SERIES VS. MARSHALL... The Thundering Herd holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series against UCF after taking a 77-60 win at UCF Arena on Jan. 20. The Golden Knights took a 29-24 lead at halftime, but Marshall outscored the host team 53-31 in the second period to win. Sikeetha Shepard-Hall scored a game-high 25 points, while UCF junior guard Francine Houston tied a school record with seven three-pointers and posted 23 points in the loss.
Prior to this year's meeting, the Thundering Herd edged the Golden Knights, 78-77, in Orlando during the 1986-87 season.
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA... At 7-7 in C-USA and 15-10 overall, the Pirates enter the weekend in a three-way tie with Tulane and UAB for sixth place in the league standings. Like Marshall, they are among the top defensive teams in the conference, allowing opponents to score an average of 64.6 points a contest. They also have the third highest scoring margin and commandeer over 40 rebounds per game.
Individually, junior Cherie Mills is the second-highest scorer in the league as she averages 17.4 points a game, while she also boasts the third-highest field goal percentage at 55.2% (181-for-328). Freshman guard Jasmine Young is also listed among C-USA's top players in scoring (16th - 12.6), assists (2nd - 5.32) and steals (1st - 2.76).
THE SERIES VS. EAST CAROLINA... In the first meeting between the two C-USA foes in Orlando on Jan. 22, the Pirates overcame a 30-27 deficit at intermission to earn a 68-63 victory. Senior LaToya Horton recorded a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds as one of three players scoring in double figures for ECU. Sophomore guard Amber Long sank a team-high 15 points, and Francine Houston contributed 14 for the Golden Knights.
ANOTHER COACHING CONNECTION... Both UCF head coach Gail Striegler and East Carolina head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener are former Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year honorees. Striegler earned the award in 2003 and 2005, while Baldwin-Tener won in 2002 when she guided the Mercer Bears.
CHASING PERFECTION... Several Golden Knights proven to be sharpshooters from the floor this season, missing fewer than two of their six or more attempts. Senior forward Shelby Weber has posted four games of near-perfect basketball, including her most recent when she hit 11-of-12 (91.7%) against Memphis on Feb. 19. She also went 8-for-9 (88.9%) at UAB on Jan. 29.
Among the others joining Weber are senior guard Shayla Smith (2 games), junior forward Juliana Gomes (2), senior guard LaShay King (1) and junior forward Keunta Miles (1).
Only one player, Amber Long, has been perfect. She made all seven attempts from the field against East Carolina on Jan. 22.
SWEET CHARITY... After shooting a team-best 82% (41-of-50) from the foul line in 2004-05, Shelby Weber is well on her way to duplicating the feat as she has knocked down 84.7% (50-of-59) from the charity stripe this season. She is currently ranked seventh in the conference in the category, while her career shooting percentage of 77.1% (128-for-166) is fifth all-time at UCF.
Weber was a flawless 9-for-9 from the line at UAB on Jan. 29.
LONG ON EFFORT... 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 18 points against Tulane on Jan. 13. After going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field with a team-high 15 points against East Carolina on Jan. 22, she earned her first career double-double by recording a career-best 19 points and 11 rebounds against UAB one month later.
Her efforts have earned a starting role in 12 of the 14 league games. She averages 10.1 points per conference contest, good enough for third on the team, while she ranks sixth in overall UCF scoring with 6.7 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 51-46 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 currently leads the team in assists with 116 and is listed fifth among C-USA players with 4.64 helpers per outing. King needs six more to break into the school's top 10 for most assists in a season.
Elsewhere on the court, she is fifth among her teammates, scoring 6.9 points per game.
JOINING AN ELITE CLUB... Shelby Weber became a member of an elite club when she grabbed her 500th career rebound against Tulane on Jan. 13. She started the season with 390 career rebounds and after adding 179 boards this year, she now has 569 and jumps to seventh all-time at UCF. She needs nine more to tie Erin Paige (1999-03) in sixth and 42 to move into fifth place with Takira Allen (2001-05).
Weber became the third athlete in two years to eclipse the 500-rebound mark as both Ali Roberts and 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 15 of 25 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... No fewer than four Golden Knights have posted double-doubles this season. Most recently, Amber Long added her name to the list when she scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against UAB on Feb. 17 to post the first double-double of her career.
Shelby Weber has added five double-doubles to her two from last year for a career total of seven. 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. She has also posted double-doubles against C-USA foes Rice on Jan. 8 with 15 points and 13 rebounds and most recently, SMU on Feb. 10 with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, two other Golden Knights earned the first double-doubles of their careers. During the Houston contest on Jan. 6, LaShay King recorded a season-high 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Junior forward Juliana Gomes 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 fourth on the team, averaging 7.1 points per game.
Smith has also made her presence known on the conference and national levels. She is second among C-USA players and 12th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.30).
LENDING A HAND... 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 116 helpers to her 194 from the previous three years, King sits in fifth with 310.
Prior to the start of this season, Smith appeared on the list in ninth with 219 assists. With 76 assists this season, she now has 295 during her career and has moved to sixth place all-time at UCF.
Currently, Marcie Swilley (1979-83) is in fourth place with 326 assists.
HOUSTON ROCKET... Francine Houston stepped up to lead the UCF offense early in the season and still remains atop the stat sheet with 12.9 points per game. She is currently 13th in the conference in scoring, while she leads all players in three-point field goals made (2.84) and is fifth in three-point field goal percentage (36.4%).
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... Juliana Gomes, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the first foreign-born player to don a 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 15 of the 25 contests she has played this season and is averaging 4.2 points and 2.5 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 teams (Houston, Rice, East Carolina, Memphis, Tulsa and SMU) as well as West Virginia, Princeton, Santa Clara, Central Michigan and Quinnipiac.
CROWDED HOUSE... A record number of fans packed the house when the Golden Knights defeat UTEP, 51-46, in the program's first nationally televised game on Jan. 15 at UCF Arena. The crowd of 1,182 was the largest ever for a women's basketball game at UCF.
The previous record of 857 was set on Feb. 2, 2002 in a game against former Atlantic Sun rival Campbell.
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.