March 11, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With four victories in four days last week, the UCF women's basketball team and head coach Joi Williams completed a remarkable run and captured the Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship. The Knights won their first C-USA Championship on Sunday before a national television audience on ESPN2 with a 65-54 overtime win over Southern Miss. Below is a look back at UCF's impressive week in New Orleans.
THE ROAD TO THE TITLE
FIRST ROUND - NO. 5 UCF 66, NO. 12 RICE 64
UCF struggled with the league's lowest seed and their gimmick defense that aimed to slow Cannon and Wiley, but used a late Amber Kirkpatrick three to pull away and post a 66-64 victory.
Kirkpatrick and freshman Aisha Patrick scored 13 points apiece to lead the Knights. It was the only time in 2008-09 that both Cannon and Wiley were held to single digits.
QUARTERS - UCF 79, NO. 4 HOUSTON 66
Wiley and Cannon combined for 46 points and UCF ran out to an 18-point halftime lead as the Knights never trailed and cruised to the semis with a 79-66 win.
UCF avenged an 80-65 loss earlier in the season that gave Houston the tiebreaker and bye over the Knights.
SEMIS - UCF 62, NO. 1 SMU 51
The Knights got 18 points and 19 rebounds from Cannon and knocked out the top-seed SMU 62-51 despite 29.3 percent shooting. Marshay White added 13 points for the Knights.
UCF had a 51-39 edge on the glass and held the Mustangs to just 30.6 percent shooting and 4-for-23 from long range.
FINALS - UCF 65, NO. 3 SO. MISS 54 (OT)
UCF held third-seeded Southern Miss without a field goal and to just two points in overtime as the Knights claimed their first C-USA title 65-54.
Wiley hit four threes and scored a gamehigh 18 points while Cannon added 16 points and 15 rebounds in the victory.
The Knights held Southern Miss to just 32.8 percent shooting in the game, including a 4-for-15 performance from first-team all-conference performer Pauline Love.
THE REAL MVP
Numerous people around Conference USA were somewhat surprised when Cannon was not named the league's player of the year after the regular season. The first-team all-conference player performed like C-USA's best during the tournament, and was rewarded with C-USA Tournament MVP honors.
After Rice's gimmick defense held her to just two shot attempts in the first game, Cannon averaged 18 points and 15.7 rebounds over the final three games in leading the Knights to the title.
For the tournament, Cannon averaged 14.3 points and 14.5 rebounds and hit 19-for-32 from the field for 59.4 percent in 35.8 minutes per game.
Cannon was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.), Pauline Love and Amber Eugene of Southern Miss and Tynikki Crook of Marshall.
BOOKENDING THE TITLE
Wiley earned all-tournament team honors despite struggling from the field at times, shooting just 32.3 percent overall and 31.0 percent from long range. However, the sharpshooting kept shooting with confidence and played a vital role in the title game win.
The sophomore drained back-to-back threes to start the game and spark an early 8-0 UCF lead. Then, with her team holding a four-point lead in overtime, she put the contest out of reach with a difficult jumper with 1:17 on the clock.
Over the four games, Wiley averaged a team-leading 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. She hit nine triples and connected on 13-of-16 free throws.
D-FENCE
Statistically one of the worst defensive teams in C-USA heading into the tournament, UCF used four strong defensive outings to aid its run to the title. Over the four games, UCF allowed just 58.8 points per game. The Knights also held their foes to just 35.6 percent from the field, including just 10-of-52 from beyond the arc.
The defensive was especially stifling in the first halves of the semifinals and finals, when SMU and Southern Miss scored just 20 and 19 rebounds respectively, the lowest outputs for UCF opponents all season.
GLASS CLEANER
Already one of the nation's best rebounders, Cannon took her boardwork to a whole new level in the tourney. With four double-figure rebounding performances, including 19 against SMU and 15 in the title game, Cannon shattered the C-USA tournament rebounding record by pulling down 58, including 21 on the offensive glass. She bested the previous mark by 11 rebounds.
The 19 rebounds overall and the 13 defensive rebounds against SMU are both the third most in a league tourney game.
RUNNING THE SHOW
Sophomore Angelica Mealing ran her streak of double-figure scoring games to eight with four-straight in the tourney. The southpaw point guard averaged 11 points and 4.8 assists per contest.
PATTY'S DAYS
Freshman Aisha Patrick was terrific in her first tournament, averaging 10 points and 2.5 assists in 35.2 minutes per game. The rookie knocked down 18-of-32 shots from the field while also being the number one stopper on the Knights' stifling defense.
UCF will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Monday, March 16 and then play a first round game on either March 21 or 22 at one of 16 predetermined sites around the nation. The Knights will be making their third appearance in the national showcase, previously qualifying in 1996 and 1999.
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.