Feb. 28, 2006
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ORLANDO - No. 11 seeded UCF takes on No. 6 seed Tulane in the first round of its inaugural Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship, which begins Thursday at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. The two teams tipoff at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The Golden Knights (7-20, 6-11 C-USA) earned the No. 11 seed after splitting their final weekend of regular season play as they edged Marshall, 66-63, before losing to East Carolina, 65-44, in the finale.
Should UCF beat Tulane, the Golden Knights would advance to the quarterfinal round to take on host SMU on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET. The tournament continues with the semifinals on Saturday and concludes with the championship game on Sunday at 4 p.m. Live video feeds of first round, quarterfinals and semifinals will be available on-line at conferenceusa.com, while the semifinals will also be carried by CSTV. The championship game will be broadcast live only by ESPN2.
SCOUTING TULANE... After upsetting SMU, 71-58, on Sunday, Tulane finished the season 14-11 overall and 8-8 in the conference to earn the No. 6 seed in the championship. The Green Wave has won three of its last four games to enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams. The squad is fourth in the league in scoring offense at 67.4 points per game but drops to ninth in scoring defense at 67.0 ppg.
At the top of TU's stat sheet is sophomore forward Jennifer Sands, who is averaging 12.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. Meanwhile, freshman Ashley Langford has more assists than any other player in C-USA with 6.33 per game.
THE SERIES VS. TULANE... The Green Wave and the Golden Knights are even at 2-2 in the all-time series. In the most recent meeting between the two schools on Jan. 13 at UCF Arena, the Golden Knights handed the Green Wave a 60-52 loss behind 18 points by sophomore guard Amber Long. TU junior guard Jami Montagnino sank a team-high 12 points, followed by Sands with 11.
Tulane's last win over UCF came by virtue of a 117-97 victory during the 1986-87 season.
SCOUTING SMU (*possible quarterfinal opponent)... Despite dropping their most recent game to Tulane, 71-58, the Mustangs finished the regular season with a 10-6 conference mark and a 15-13 overall record to earn the No. 3 seed and one of four sought after first-round byes in the C-USA Championship. SMU sophomore center Janielle Dodds ranks among the league's top five in several categories, including scoring (15.5), rebounding (8.3) and field goal percentage (.527).
THE SERIES VS. SMU... In the first meeting between the two teams on Feb. 10, SMU beat UCF, 69-57, at UCF Arena in Orlando. Three Mustangs finished the night scoring in double figures with Janielle Dodds and sophomore guard Sharee Shepherd each contributing a game-high 16 points. Senior forward Shelby Weber led the Golden Knights with 15 points and Amber Long added 11.
COACHING CONNECTIONS... UCF head coach Gail Striegler has connections to head coaches at three other C-USA schools. She 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.
Striegler was also a graduate assistant coach at Arkansas from 1990-91 during Memphis head coach Blair Savage-Lansden's sophomore season. That year the Lady Razorbacks finished with a 28-4 record en route to winning both the Southwest Conference regular season and tournament titles. The team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
Finally, both 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.
GOING THE EXTRA MILES... Junior forward Keunta Miles has been on a hot streak in the team's last four regular season games. She started against UAB on Feb. 17 when she went 5-for-6 from the floor, scored 12 points and grabbed six boards. In the following contest against Memphis, she recorded eight points and eight rebounds.
The final weekend of the season, Miles went 8-for-11 (.727) from the field and recorded career-highs in both points (18) and rebounds (9) at Marshall on Feb. 24. In the finale against East Carolina two days later, she made all five attempts from the floor and sank 4-of-5 from the foul line as she scored 14 points and pulled down six boards.
Miles has averaged 13 points and 7.3 rebounds and hit 67.7% (21-for-31) from the field in the four games.
CHASING PERFECTION... Several Golden Knights have proven to be sharpshooters from the floor this season, missing fewer than two of their six or more attempts. Shelby Weber has posted four games of near-perfect basketball, including her most recent game 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 82.5% (52-of-63) from the charity stripe this season. Her career shooting percentage of 76.5% (130-for-170 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 14 of the 16 league games. She averages 9.4 points per conference contest, good enough for third on the team, while she ranks sixth in overall UCF scoring with 6.5 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 a 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 124 and is listed fifth among C-USA players with 4.59 helpers per outing. With her six assists at Marshall on Feb. 27, King broke into the school's top 10 for assists in a season and is currently ninth in the category.
Elsewhere on the court, she is fifth among her teammates, scoring 6.6 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 191 boards this year, she now has 581 and jumped to sixth all-time at UCF. She needs 30 more 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 6.9 points per game.
Smith has also made her presence known on the conference level where she is second among C-USA players in assist/turnover ratio (2.08).
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 124 helpers to her 194 from the previous three years, King sits in fifth with 318.
Prior to the start of this season, Smith appeared on the list in ninth with 219 assists. With 81 assists this season, she now has 300 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 13.0 points per game. She is currently 13th in the conference in scoring, while she leads all players in three-point field goals made (2.78) and is fifth in three-point field goal percentage (36.2%).
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 27 contests she has played this season and is averaging 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest.
PERFECT STRANGERS... Of the 23 opponents on the 2005-06 schedule, UCF met 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 defeated UTEP, 51-46, in the program's first nationally televised game on Jan. 15 at UCF Arena on CSTV. 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.