Sept. 13, 2010
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
Complete Schedule in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF head coach Joi Williams announced her team's 2010-11 schedule. The Knights' schedule will feature a difficult slate of non-conference games beginning with the program's first appearance in the Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament. UCF will travel to Gainesville to take on Florida on Nov. 13 to kick off the season.
UCF's schedule will feature 29 regular-season games including nine contests against teams that participated in either the 2010 NCAA Tournament or WNIT. The Knights are just one of 16 teams from across the nation competing in the tournament this year, along with Austin Peay, Charlotte, DePaul, Hampton, Iona, James Madison, Lamar, Missouri State, Purdue, South Dakota State, Saint Francis (PA), Toledo, Utah Valley and Valparaiso.
Following the completion of the Preseason WNIT, the Knights will meet two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago when they open their home schedule in the team's Thanksgiving Classic. UCF will take on Richmond on Nov. 26, before meeting Western Kentucky Nov. 27.
Beyond the Thanksgiving weekend, UCF will play host to Middle Tennessee State. The Raiders come to the UCF Arena as the defending Sun Belt Champions. Other non-conference home games include: Jacksonville (Dec.20), Tennessee Tech (Dec. 29) and Valdosta State (Jan. 2).
The Knights' non-conference road schedule features several intriguing matchups as they head to Savannah State (Nov. 30), Florida International (Dec. 5), Florida State (Dec. 15) and Wright State (Dec. 22). Florida State finished the season ranked ninth in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and 11th by the AP, reaching the Elite Eight.
Senior Chelsie Wiley is back for her final season and will be looked to as one of the major players in these important non-conference matchups. Wiley led the team in scoring during her junior campaign, averaging 11.6 points per game. That scoring figure placed the then junior guard 14th in the league. She also eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career late in the season.
The Knights will use veteran leadership from returning players D'Nay Daniels and Aisha Patrick, who both started all 27 games a year ago for UCF to make another deep run in conference. Daniels' .436 shooting percentage (106-243) was the best amongst players with more than 50 attempts, while Patrick was second on the team in both rebounding and assists a year ago.
"Our non-conference schedule is exciting and we will play host to some great competition at the UCF Arena," Williams said. "The road portion of our schedule will also allow us the opportunity to play some quality opponents."
The Knights will begin their quest for a C-USA regular season title on the road, playing at Rice on Jan. 6.
The conference home opener features a matchup with Southern Miss on Jan. 9.
Other C-USA home games include: UAB (Jan. 13), Marshall (Jan. 23), Houston (Jan. 27), UTEP (Feb. 10), Tulane (Feb. 17), East Carolina (Feb. 20) and Memphis (March 3).
Following the regular-season finale, the Knights will set their sights towards the 2011 C-USA tournament title. The C-USA Championships will be held from March 9-12 in El Paso, Texas at UTEP's Don Haskins Center.
Season tickets will be available by calling the UCF ticket sales office at (407) UCF-1000 or by visiting UCFAthletics.com.