ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The American Athletic Conference announced schedule pairings for the 2018-19 season on Friday. The Knights welcome five-time reigning conference champion UConn for the third consecutive year, as well as in-state rival USF for the second straight season, to CFE Arena.
The league's 12 members will play a 16-game schedule. Each team will play five of its 11 opponents twice, and six opponents once each – three at home and three away.
In the single-game pairings for 2018-19, UCF will host Cincinnati, Temple and Tulsa, and will face East Carolina, Memphis and Wichita State on the road. In addition to the Huskies and the Bulls, the Knights will play Houston, SMU and Tulane both at home and on the road.
The complete 2018-19 women's basketball regular season schedule with dates and times will be announced in the fall.
The 2019 American Women's Basketball Championship will once again be played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., from March 8-11. The league's multi-year agreement for the Mohegan Sun to host the conference's championship runs through 2020.
The Knights finished the 2017-18 campaign with a 22-11 record, tying the most wins in a season as a Division I program. UCF turned in a 12-4 mark in The American - the best record in league play since 2010-11 - and posted its highest finish in the conference for the second consecutive season, earning the third seed.
In her second year, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson led her squad to its best season since 2010-11 and helped Masseny Kaba to a spot on the league's all-freshman team. Coach "ABE" has amassed 43 victories at UCF, which is the fourth-most in program history.
UCF returns Kaba, Nyala Shuler, who started all 33 games for the Black and Gold last season and Korneila Wright, the Knights' second-leading scorer in 2017-18. The Knights regain Tolulope Omokore and Fifi Ndour, both of whom missed last season due to injuries. In addition to a trio of newcomers, Anna Kelly and Sianni Martin will be eligible for UCF after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
