Jan. 1, 2011
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF women's basketball team will host Valdosta State Sunday at 2 p.m. in the final nonconference game of the regular season. The Knights are coming off a 10-point win, 79-69, over Tennessee Tech in their most recent game Wednesday afternoon at the UCF Arena to even their record at 6-6.
UCF is 4-1 on its home floor this season and will look to continue the winning ways at the UCF Arena with the game against the Blazers. Valdosta State has yet to win a road game this season, losing all five of its contests away from home.
The Blazers are led this season by Brittany Ferguson and her 13.9 points and 9.3 rebound per game. Despite not having won a road game this season, the team was 5-5 thanks to a 5-0 mark at home coming into Friday's game with Saint Leo. A six-point loss, 63-57, ended the perfect home record for the Blazers who now must come on the road against a very good home team in UCF.
Against Tennessee Tech, senior guard Chelsie Wiley (Riviera Beach, Fla.) scored a season-high 24 points to lead the team to its sixth victory of the season. Solid play from fellow senior D'Nay Daniels (Atlanta, Ga.) and junior Aisha Patrick (Rockledge, Fla.) also contributed to the win. Daniels scored 17 points and added seven boards, while Patrick had a UCF season high of nine assists and a team-high 10 rebounds in the game.
With the conclusion of the nonconference slate following the matchup with the Blazers, the Knights will open Conference USA play on Thursday night at Rice. UCF will host its first C-USA home game on Sunday, Jan. 9 against Southern Miss at 2 p.m.
Season and single-game tickets are on sale now as well with season ticket packages starting at just $39. Fans can purchase tickets online here or by calling (407) UCF-1000.
Sunday's Game
The Knights host Valdosta State in the final nonconference game of the season Sunday afternoon. UCF evened its overall record at 6-6 with a 10-point win Wednesday against Tennessee Tech, while Valdosta lost its first home game of the season on Friday night to Saint Leo to drop to 5-6 overall this season.
Scouting the Lady Blazers
Valdosta State comes into the game with the Knights with a 5-6 record after losing Friday night to Saint Leo, 63-57. The loss was the first at home for the Blazers this season, dropping their home mark to 5-1 this season. In contrast, the team has not won a road game this season (0-5). Brittany Ferguson and her 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game lead the team this season.
Streaking Senior
Jelisa Caldwell was one of three players for UCF to score in double figures against the Golden Eagles on Wednesday. After games of 30 and 21 points, Caldwell's 15 against TTU marked the first time in her college career that she had reached double figures in three-straight games.
Overall Performance
Junior guard Aisha Patrick dished out a UCF season-high nine assists against Tennessee Tech. She also contributed in the win with team highs of eight rebounds and three steals, while adding six points.
Strong Second Half
Senior guard Chelsie Wiley led the Knights with 24 points in the win against TTU. With just eight points at the break, Wiley turned it up in the second half, scoring 16 points down the stretch to help her team to the win.
Solid From the Stripe
UCF was 20-of-26 from the free-throw line in the game as a team. Wiley matched her season high of 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Juniors Ashia Kelly and Racine Davis each connected on a career high of three free throws.
Daniels Dominates
D'Nay Daniels scored 17 points against the Golden Eagles. She now has double figures in scoring in nine of 12 games this season, matching Wiley for the team lead. She now also has 46 games of double-figures scoring in her career.
So Long 2010
The Knights wrapped up 2010 with a 'W' against TTU. For the year of 2010, UCF posted a record of 14-16 overall and were 8-5 at the UCF Arena.
Home Wins
UCF continues to win games in Orlando. This season, the Knights are 4-1 in games played at the UCF Arena. In those five games the team is averaging 13 more points per game than on the road (77.8 to 64.8) and two fewer turnovers (14.8 to 16.7).
Nonconference Wins
The Knights will look to match their best nonconference win total since 2007-08 when they were 7-7 headed into C-USA play with a win against the Blazers.
Getting Closer
With the win Wednesday, UCF head coach Joi Williams now has 98 career victories. Forty-four of those wins have come as the Knights' head coach with the remaining wins coming at Murray State.