Feb. 4, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF (8-13, 6-2 C-USA) looks to keep the home-court advantage working in its favor on Thursday, continuing a season-long four-game homestand as Tulsa (6-14, 2-6 C-USA) visits Orlando at 7 p.m. The Knights are 4-0 at UCF Arena in Conference USA play, and on the heels of that success find themselves alone in third place and just one game back in the league standings.
In their last outing, the Knights got 30 points from sophomore Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) en route to a 75-67 victory over Marshall. Wiley also knocked down seven threes in the contest, and subsequently took home C-USA Player of the Week honors for the second time in 2008-09.
Sophomore Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds against Marshall, her fourth-straight double-double and 11th of the season. She leads the team averaging 15 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
Tulsa enters having lost five of six overall and each of its nine road games this season. The Golden Hurricane has not scored more than 60 points in any road game. Tulsa lost its last game, 68-46, at home against Houston on Saturday. Tiffany Couisnard just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds to lead the team.
Junior Larrissa Williams leads the Golden Hurricane in both points (14.5) and rebounds (9.5) per game.
KNIGHTS NOTES
? INSIDE THE SERIES: Tulsa leads the all-time series with UCF 2-1. Tulsa won last season's meeting 65-59 in Tulsa. Sophomore Marshay White (Rochester, N.Y.) led three Knights in double figures with 14 points. UCF defeated the Golden Hurricane 75-69 on Feb. 4, 2007, the lone meeting in Orlando.
? RECORD SIX-PACK: With its 75-67 win over Marshall on Saturday, UCF notched its sixth C-USA win of the season, the most victories in league play since joining the conference in 2005-06.
? CLEAN SWEEP: Wiley and freshman Aisha Patrick (Rockledge, Fla.) made it a UCF clean sweep as they were named C-USA Player and Rookie of the Week respectively on Monday. Wiley earned the weekly honor for the second time in 2008-09 while Patrick became the first Knight to win the rookie of the week award.
? AMONG THE NATION'S BEST: Wiley is currently third nationally in three-point percentage (50.9) behind Lamar's Emily Spickler at 56.6 percent. Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) is now 14th in the country in rebounds and tied for 10th in offensive rebounds per game.
? HITTING THE BIG 5-0: With Thursday's game against ECU, Wiley and Cannon and fellow sophomores D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) and White hit the hardwood for the 50th time in their young careers. Angelica Mealing (Decatur, Ga.) joined the group by playing her 50th game against Marshall.
? LOGGING TIME: UCF had four players play 36 minutes or more on Saturday against Marshall, with Wiley and Patrick both logging 40. In the second half, Wiley, Patrick, Cannon and Mealing each played all 20 minutes.
? ON THE TUBE: The Knights' game at Houston was the first of four UCF contests that will be televised live this season. The remaining three TV games will be home games at UCF Arena, with Bright House Sports Network carrying Saturday's game against SMU and the Feb. 26 game against Memphis, and the UCF-UAB on Mar. 1 will be live on CBS College Sports.
Season tickets for the UCF women's basketball program are currently on sale through the UCF ticket sales office. For more information about the arena's premium seating options, including club seats, group discounts, courtside tables and suites, contact the UCF ticket sales office at (407) UCF-1000 or visit the women's basketball ticket page at UCFAthletics.cstv.com/tickets/w-baskbl-tickets.html.
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.