Feb. 24, 2010
By Andrew Gavin
UCFAthletics.com
Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Life will not be easy down the stretch for the UCF women's basketball team as it prepares to defend its Conference USA Tournament championship in early March. Jockeying for position in the tight C-USA, the Knights finish the regular season with three-straight games away from home, beginning Thursday at SMU at 8 p.m. EST.
The Knights closed out their home portion of the schedule successfully last Saturday, downing visiting Houston 78-66. Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) led the way for the Knights on what was a historic night for the junior, scoring a game-high 21 points and becoming the program's 13th member of the 1,000-point club. UCF was also dominant on the boards, getting 15 from Emma Cannon (Rochester, N.Y.) to outrebound the Cougars 55-28.
In SMU, the Knights will face a team they had success against in 2008-09. UCF won 78-68 in Orlando and then took out the top-seeded Mustangs 62-51 in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament.
This season, SMU is one of the teams sitting ahead of the Knights in the battle for tournament seeding. The Mustangs are coming off a 74-64 win at Marshall that halted a two-game skid. Senior Brittany Gilliam is averaging 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists to lead SMU.
The Mustangs have won each of the previous two meetings in Dallas and lead the all-time series 4-2.
The game can be heard live on WHOO 1080 AM ESPN Radio. With Scott Adams and Andrew Gavin on the call, coverage can be heard beginning at 7:45 p.m. Those fans not in the Central Florida area or without radio access can listen live via the internet at ESPNFlorida.com or on UCFAthletics.com.
? THE SERIES: SMU has a 4-2 edge in the all-time series against UCF, but the Knights enter Thursday having won two-straight games after a sweep in 2008-09. In the last meeting, UCF got 18 points and 19 rebounds from Cannon to defeat the Mustangs 62-51 in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals.
? WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Wiley's effort on Saturday secured her place as the 13th member of the program's 1,000-point club. The junior eclipsed the mark by scoring 12 first-half points.
? DOMINANT DANIELS: Junior D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) has been UCF's most consistent player over the past nine games. During that stretch, Daniels has notched 10-plus points seven times and is averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds. The junior scored a career-high 25 points against Memphis and is shooting 46.8 percent during the eight-game stretch.
? BOARD WORK: UCF has outrebounded 11 of 13 C-USA opponents this year, including a dominating 55-28 advantage on the glass Saturday against Houston. The season-high rebound total helped the Knights increase their league-leading rebound margin to plus-5.5 overall and plus-7.6 in C-USA contests. UCF is also leading the league in offensive rebounds (17.6).
? CANNONBALL: Cannon had 15 of UCF's season-high 15 rebounds Saturday against Houston. She is averaging 13.7 rebounds over the past three games and has upped her average to 10.3 boards per game, second in C-USA. Cannon sits just 26 rebounds shy of entering C-USA's top-10 all-time rebounders. She does most of her damage on the offensive glass, where she averages 5.8 per game and ranks third nationally.
? BACK TO THE POINT: Since C-USA play began, Mealing has been one of the league's best floor generals. She has totaled 64 assists and just 30 turnovers in league games and is tied for second among C-USA players in league play in assists (4.9 per game) and is third in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.1) Mealing had a career-high 10 assists against UTEP, and now sits sixth all-time with 267 career assists.
? OUT IN FRONT: UCF has been impressive when getting out in front of its opponents this season. The Knights are 8-1 when leading at halftime and 8-1 when leading with five minutes to play. The team is still looking for a signature comeback win as it is 0-13 when coming out of halftime with a deficit.
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.