ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF women’s basketball team will face a challenging non-conference schedule, which was announced Tuesday.
The Knights will face nine opponents who advanced to the NCAA or WNIT Tournaments a year ago. Five squads on the slate for 2018-19 finished last season with a top-100 RPI, and none of them were below 175.
“We want to challenge our players before we get into conference play,” UCF head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Our conference is tough, and the league RPI is high. We want to do our part to continue to make this a multi-bid league to the NCAA Tournament.”
Seven contests on the 13-game slate are part of home-and-home agreements. While the Knights will travel to those opponents this season, they will all return to CFE Arena during the 2019-20 campaign.
“We want to continue to play a challenging schedule,” Coach “ABE” said. “We worked out a lot of home-and-home games so that we can play tough competition into the future.”
UCF opens its season on Nov. 7 at Pitt. The Knights return to the Sunshine State to take on Stetson in DeLand on Nov. 14.
Facing back-to-back NCAA teams in November, UCF heads to Mercer on Nov. 18 to face the Bears for the second straight year. On Nov. 21, the Knights travel to Central Michigan to face a Chippewa squad that advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2017-18.
The Black and Gold begin a three-game homestand with the UCF Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 24-25. The Knights host Richmond before facing Villanova. Virginia Tech will also make the trip to Orlando to round out the field.
Last season, UCF rallied in the second half to claim its first victory of the campaign in a 58-57 win at Chattanooga. The Mocs travel to The City Beautiful for the return game on Nov. 30.
Heading up north, the Knights will face Delaware on Dec. 9 and Duquesne on Dec. 12.
The Knights will look for redemption when Pacific comes to CFE Arena on Dec. 17. UCF dropped an overtime decision against the Tigers in Stockton last season.
On Dec. 21-22, UCF faces a pair of NCAA Tournament teams at the St. Pete Shootout. The Knights will take on Liberty Dec. 21 before facing Syracuse on Dec. 22.
Rounding out non-conference action, UCF travels to Quinnipiac on Dec. 30. The back-to-back MAAC champion Bobcats are coming off their second consecutive season with a victory in the NCAA Tournament.
The full schedule, including American Athletic Conference contests, will be released later this fall.
UCF returns all-freshman selection Masseny 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 also 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.
Quick Look – Non-Conference Opponents
Pittsburgh
League: ACC
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
2017-18 Record: 10-20
Series with UCF: First Meeting
Stetson
League: ASUN
Location: DeLand, Fla.
2017-18 Record: 17-15
Series with UCF: Knights lead 35-27
Last Meeting: UCF, 73-53 (3/16/17)
Mercer
League: SoCon
Location: Macon, Ga.
2017-18 Record: 30-3
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA First Round
Series with UCF: Knights lead 26-17
Last Meeting: Mercer, 73-64 (11/10/17)
Central Michigan
League: MAC
Location: Mount Pleasant, Mich.
2017-18 Record: 30-5
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA Sweet 16
Series with UCF: Knights lead 1-0
Last Meeting: UCF, 57-48 (12/16/05)
Richmond
League: Atlantic 10
Location: Richmond, Va.
2017-18 Record: 14-17
Series with UCF: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: UCF, 79-53 (11/26/10)
Villanova
League: Big East
Location: Villanova, Pa.
2017-18 Record: 23-9
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA Second Round
Series with UCF: Wildcats lead 1-0
Last Meeting: Villanova, 68-50 (11/29/08)
Chattanooga
League: SoCon
Location: Chattanooga, Tenn.
2017-18 Record: 17-13
2017-18 Postseason: WNIT First Round
Series with UCF: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: UCF, 58-57 (11/13/17)
Delaware
League: Colonial
Location: Newark, Del.
2017-18 Record: 19-13
2017-18 Postseason: WNIT First Round
Series with UCF: First Meeting
Duquesne
League: Atlantic 10
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
2017-18 Record: 25-8
2017-18 Postseason: WNIT Third Round
Series with UCF: First Meeting
Pacific
League: West Coast Conference
Location: Stockton, Calif.
2017-18 Record: 15-17
Series with UCF: Tigers lead, 1-0
Last Meeting: Pacific, 78-74 (12/20/17)
Liberty
League: ASUN
Location: Lynchburg, Va.
2017-18 Record: 24-10
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA First Round
Series with UCF: Knights lead, 1-0
Last Meeting: UCF, 66-59 (1/2/91)
Syracuse
League: ACC
Location: Syracuse, N.Y.
2017-18 Record: 22-9
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA First Round
Series with UCF: Orange lead 1-0
Last Meeting: Syracuse, 104-66 (11/30/97)
Quinnipiac
League: MAAC
Location: Hamden, Conn.
2017-18 Record: 28-6
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA Second Round
Series with UCF: Bobcats lead 1-0
Last Meeting: Quinnipiac, 71-55 (12/28/05)