Dec. 28, 2009
By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
UCF's women's basketball coach Joi Williams is convinced that playing a rugged schedule against some of the nation's top teams will ultimately benefit the Knights much the same way that it did last season.
But she'd also like to win a few of those games along the way.
Following close losses to Washington (by three points), Florida Atlantic (two points), Alabama (two points) and sixth-ranked Florida State (12 points), UCF (3-5) is hoping to break through Tuesday with what would be a landmark victory against third-ranked Notre Dame (10-0). Tipoff is at 1 p.m. at UCF Arena.
"We talk all the time about starting fast and finishing strong and we've done one or the other but not both of them lately," Williams said of her Knights. "We've finished with a flurry a lot and been close, but we've got to start the game well and finish strong against a good team like Notre Dame. I want to see us carry out the game plan for the full 40 minutes and win a big game like this against a good team."
Regardless of what happens against Notre Dame, Tuesday promises to be a historic night for the women's team. The banner honoring last season's shocking Conference USA crown will be raised at halftime of the men's game against Liberty.
It was shocking because UCF was once 2-11 last season, before finishing with a solid closing kick. The Knights won four times in four days to claim the school's first C-USA basketball crown and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
With most of that team back this season, Williams feels like the Knights could be poised for another second-half run this season. And she can think of no better way to jump-start it than with an upset of the nation's third-ranked team.
"Seeing the banner go up will be a great testament to all the hard work that was put in last year," Williams said. "That team was 2-11 at the (Christmas) break and didn't give up at all and kept fighting. We want to get that feeling again and we're excited about getting the chance to face a team like Notre Dame."
UCF's men, 7-4 overall and 5-0 at home, will face Liberty (6-6) in first-night play of the UCF Holiday Classic at 7 p.m. Buffalo faces Jacksonville at 4:30 p.m. in the first game of the tournament.
Notre Dame's women have smashed foes this season, outscoring their 10 opponents on average by 26.5 points per game. The Irish are averaging 83.6 points, and Williams knows UCF's defense and ability to rebound will be severely tested. Also, she said it will be of the utmost importance to be efficient offensively to keep up with Notre Dame's high-powered offense. UCF averages 66.6 points a game, and will likely have to exceed that total to win.
"We've got to have good offensive possessions, we've got to execute and we must make open shots," Williams said. "We just can't have those empty possessions where we don't get shots. We've left points on the floor this year with missed layups. We've just got to make shots because we're not going to totally take a good team like Notre Dame out of what they want to do offensively. We've got to be good offensively to win."
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFathletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.