Sept. 16, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF head women's basketball coach Joi Williams announced her program's 2008-09 schedule Tuesday, a 29-game slate which includes 13 contests at home and a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in St. Thomas. The Knights' schedule will also include the UCF Tournament in December and nine games against teams that played in the postseason a year ago.
Tickets for the 2008-09 women's basketball season are currently available by calling the UCF Ticket Sales Office at (407) UCF-1000. The Knights welcome back eight letterwinners from 2007-08 including three double-digit scorers.
"We have put together a tough non-conference schedule that should prepare us for conference play beginning in January," said Williams, in her second season at the helm of the Knights' program. "We are excited to be playing teams from eight different conferences that play a variety of styles. Our home schedule, including the UCF Tournament in December, should provide our fans with exciting basketball throughout the season."
After an exciting non-conference schedule in November and December, UCF gets the Conference USA season underway at home on Jan. 3, hosting Southern Miss. The first C-USA road game will be at Memphis on Jan. 8. A three-game road trip also includes UAB (Jan. 10) and Southern Miss (Jan. 18).
A home game against Rice (Jan. 22) and an away game at Houston (Jan. 25) precedes a season-long four-game homestand where the Knights will welcome East Carolina (Jan. 29), Marshall (Jan. 31), Tulsa (Feb. 5) and SMU (Feb. 7). SMU finished second in Conference USA a season ago and claimed the title at the C-USA Championship hosted by UCF.
The Knights then hit the road for their longest trip of conference play with four games in an eight-day stretch in mid-February. The Knighs will play at Marshall, East Carolina, UTEP, and Tulane during that span. The trip to UTEP on Feb. 19 will pit the Knights against the defending C-USA champs.
The regular season concludes with a pair of home games as Memphis (Feb. 26) and UAB (Feb. 28) are welcomed to the UCF Arena, a state-of-the-art facility which opened in 2007.
The 2009 Conference USA Championship, hosted by Tulane, will run from March 5-8 in New Orleans, La.
After opening the season at Colorado on November 16, the Knights return home for back-to-back games against Florida A&M (Nov. 21) and Florida Atlantic (Nov. 22) at UCF Arena.
UCF flies south for the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, from Nov. 27-29. The Knights play Baylor (Nov. 27), Wisconsin (Nov. 28) and Villanova (Nov. 29) on consecutive days.
December opens with three games away from home, beginning with a contest in Tuscaloosa, Ala., against Alabama on Jan. 3. Trips to Florida Gulf Coast (Jan. 7) and Jacksonville (Jan. 15) are sandwiched around finals week.
The Knights will be active prior to breaking for the holidays, playing at home against Miami, Fla., on Dec. 18 before immediately hosting the UCF Tournament the following night. In the tournament, UCF will play Wake Forest on Dec. 19 and Ole Miss on Dec. 21. Wake Forest and Ole Miss will clash on Dec. 20.
The end of 2008 will also bring an end to non-conference play as UCF travels to Tallahassee, Fla., for a matchup with Florida State. The non-conference slate includes teams from eight different conferences, including three from the Atlantic Coast Conference, two from the Big East and two from the Southeastern Conference.
Williams' squad will play one exhibition before the regular season gets underway as the Knights host DT3, a team comprised of former collegiate players, at UCF Arena.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.