Dec. 21, 2009
By Andrew Gavin
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The Conference USA office announced Monday afternoon that UCF junior Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) and freshman Gevenia Carter (Houston, Texas) were named the C-USA Player and Freshman of the Week respectively. UCF sweeping the league's weekly awards signifies that after an up-and-down start to the season, the Knights seem to be heading in the right direction at just the right time.
After eight games and a 76-38 rout of Jackson State on Sunday, UCF stands at 3-5. The team concludes its non-conference schedule against No. 3 Notre Dame on Dec. 29 before starting C-USA play on Jan. 8 at Marshall.
C-USA Player of the Week awards being handed to Cannon should come as no surprise. Cannon was the league's Preseason Player of the Year, and after winning the league's top weekly honor three times in 2008-09, it is more of a surprise that five were handed out this season before she was selected.
After an inconsistent start to the season for her standards, Cannon posted three-straight double-doubles last week against Alabama, No. 10/6 Florida State and Jackson State. The 6-2 forward averaged 17.3 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. Cannon had 23 points and 13 rebounds against Alabama and 16 points and 15 rebounds against the undefeated Seminoles before adding 13 points and 10 boards against Jackson State.
Heading into the game against the Fighting Irish, Cannon is averaging 14.8 points and 10.6 rebounds and stands just four points shy of becoming the program's 12th member of the 1,000-point club. She also now stands second all-time with 739 rebounds and 38 double-doubles.
The most decorated recruit in the program's history, Carter has found a stable place in the rotation and is coming into her own as a scoring threat for the Knights. In her three games last week, Carter averaged 8.3 points and shot 60 percent from beyond the three-point line despite playing just 15 minutes per game.
The 5-6 guard played a season-high 24 minutes against Alabama and responded with 10 points and three steals. In only 21 minutes combined against No. 10/6 Florida State and Jackson State, Carter scored 15 points and made 7-of-11 shots from the field. She hit 3-of-5 three-pointers for the week in earning her first C-USA Freshman of the Week honor.
The Knights will host undefeated Notre Dame (10-0) on Dec. 29 at 12 p.m. at the UCF Arena. The game will be televised live nationally by CBS College Sports. The first 150 fans will receive a free t-shirt and any fan who purchases a ticket for either session of the UCF Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30 will receives a free ticket to the Notre Dame game.
Season and single-game tickets are currently available with the UCF Ticket Office. Knight fans can purchase season tickets for each of the team's 14 home games for just $39. For more information on purchasing tickets, contact the UCF ticket office at (407) 823-1000.
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.