Feb. 21, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF women's basketball team, which has relied on nine freshmen for the majority of its minutes this season, is second in the nation in minutes played by freshmen and sophomores, according to a survey released Thursday by Malcolm Butler, Associate Athletics Director at Louisiana Tech University. Additionally, the Knights rely on solely freshmen more than any other team in the nation.
Of the 5,026 minutes the Knights have played this season, 4,622 of those minutes have been logged by freshmen. Gardner-Webb leads the nation with freshmen and sophomores contributing 94.0 percent of its minutes, but six of its 13 underclassmen are sophomores. Freshmen contribute just 39.4 percent of Gardner-Webb's minutes. Of the top five teams in the survey that rely most on freshmen and sophomores, UCF leads the way in minutes played by freshmen as the Knights have no sophomores on their 2008 roster.
Additionally, UCF ranks fifth in the nation in least starting experience returning. In Butler's survey, he figured that list by the number of career starts that returning players had accumulated prior to the start of this season. Returning junior Jackie Akers (Cape Coral, Fla.) and senior Amber Long (Irmo, S.C.) had started a combined 52 games entering the 2008 campaign.
Butler conducted his survey by contacting women's basketball sports information directors that handle the publicity for the nation's 338 NCAA Division I teams.
Relying on Freshmen and SophomoresRank Team Percentage Team Record1. Gardner-Webb 94.0 11-142. UCF 91.9 8-173. Jacksonville State 88.0 11-154. Tulsa 87.5 9-165. Colgate 77.7 1-246. Texas A&M 77.0 18-77. New Hampshire 77.0 6-168. Xavier 76.5 19-79. Missouri 75.6 8-1610. Coastal Carolina 75.3 15-9
Relying on FreshmenRank Team Percentage Team Record1. UCF 91.0 8-172. Jacksonville State 65.3 11-153. Colgate 53.6 1-254. Tulsa 48.0 9-165. Gardner-Webb 39.4 11-14
Inexperienced Starters (By number of games started returning)Rank Team Games Started Returning Team Record1. Louisiana Tech 4 12-132. Hofstra 22 4-203. Xavier 32 19-74. Jacksonville State 38 11-155. UCF 52 8-176. Gardner-Webb 56 11-147. Southern Utah 68 6-198. Loyola (Md.) 78 12-13
UCF returns to action on Friday when it plays host to Tulane. Tip-off in the New UCF Arena is slated for 7 p.m. EST and the game will be carried live on UCFAthletics.com with Scott Adams.
UCF will play host to the 2008 Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament, March 6-9, at the new UCF Arena. Single-game and session ticket packages are now available. Call the UCFAA Ticket Sales Office at 407-823-1000. For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.