ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball team heads to Houston for its second contest with the Cougars on Saturday.
The American Athletic Conference matchup between UCF (7-2, 5-1 The American) and Houston (8-4, 5-3 The American) tips at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
GAME INFO
Date: Saturday, Jan. 23
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN+
KNIGHT NOTES
UCF takes a 7-2 overall record into the weekend matchup. The Black and Gold are 5-1 in The American following a 57-41 win over Cincinnati on Jan. 17. The Knights led wire-to-wire in the victory over the Bearcats.
A trio of Knights average double figures, led by Courtajia Sanders' 11.6 points per game. Sanders also leads the Black and Gold with 2.3 steals per game. Diamond Battles is second with 11.3 points per contest and leads the Knights with 4.0 assists per game. Four consecutive double-digit performances bumped Brittney Smith to 10.3 points per game on the season and is the second-leading rebounder with 5.1 boards per game.
Masseny Kaba paces the Knights on the boards, averaging 5.6 rebounds per game.
Nationally, the Knights defense remains one of the stingiest in the country. UCF ranks fifth in scoring defense, holding opponents to 50.6 points per game. The Black and Gold's opponents are shooting just 33.8 percent from the field, which ranks 17th in the country. The Knights have forced every opponent into double-digit turnovers and rank 51st nationally in turnovers forced at 19.67 per game.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
Houston is 8-4 overall, with a 5-3 mark in league play and are coming off an 80-46 win over Temple on Wednesday.
Britney Onyeje leads the Cougars with 10.8 points per game and ranks 33rd nationally with 2.78 three-point field goals made per game. She leads Houston with 25 treys on the year. Dymond Gladney averages 9.2 points per game for Houston. Julia Blackshell-Fair dishes out 3.7 assists per game and pulls down 5.8 rebounds per contest to lead the Cougars.
UCF leads the all-time series, 17-6. A 55-46 win in Orlando on Jan. 3 extended the Knights' win streak to eight in the series.
UP NEXT
UCF returns to Addition Financial Arena on Jan. 27, hosting ECU. The Knights and Pirates will tip off at 5 p.m. on ESPN+. The teams meet for the second time this season as the Black and Gold earned a 58-51 win in Greenville on Jan. 13.
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