ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball continues its road swing with a midweek matchup at Tulane in New Orleans.
UCF (10-2, 8-1 The American) and Tulane (14-5, 10-4 The American) tip at 7 p.m. ET in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The game will stream on ESPN+.
GAME INFO
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats
KNIGHT LEADERS
• A trio of Knights are averaging double figures, led by Courtajia Sanders at 11.1 points per game. Brittney Smith is just behind her at 11.1 points per contest and Diamond Battles adds 10.6 points per game.
• Battles also leads the Knights with 4.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
• Smith also used a career-best 12-rebound performance to lead the Knights on the glass, averaging 5.9 boards per contest.
• Masseny Kaba is the second-leading rebounder at 5.6 per game. She is four rebounds shy of joining the UCF career top 10 and needs just one block to join the top 10 in that category. Kaba also averages 8.1 points per game for UCF.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
• In typical UCF fashion during the Coach ABE era, the Knights are among the best in the country defensively.
• In each of her five seasons at the helm, UCF has held its opponents under 57 points per game. The Knights are holding opponents to 49.2 points per game, the best mark through the first 12 games under Coach ABE.
• UCF leads in the nation in scoring defense. Seven of the Knights' 12 opponents have been held below 50 points, with two (Virginia, Houston) held under 40.
• The Black and Gold are also holding their opponents to a 33.0 field goal percentage this season, which ranks fourth in the country.
• In each game this season, UCF has forced its opponent into double-digit turnovers, and ranks 22nd nationally in turnovers forced (20.25).
BIG PRAISE FOR BRITT
• Junior Brittney Smith turned in a career performance in UCF's 70-51 win at Cincinnati on Feb. 13, leading to her first career American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors.
• The Orlando native led all scorers with a career-best 25 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and the third of her career. She finished the game making a career-best 10 field goals on 76.9 percent shooting. Smith was perfect from the field in 3 of the 4 quarters. She started the game a perfect 4-4 from the field and 2-2 at the free throw line for 10 points at halftime.
A D-LISH PG COMBO
• UCF has a solid point guard combo in Diamond Battles and Alisha Lewis.
• In the win over Cincinnati on Jan. 17, the duo combined for 10 assists and just one turnover. Adding in the win at ECU, Battles and Lewis combined for 19 assists on the week.
• There has only been one game this season in which both did not register at least one assist (at Tulsa). Battles has eight games with four or more assists while Lewis has four this season.
• Battles averages 4.0 assists per game and Lewis averages 2.9.
SCOUTING TULANE
UCF heads to New Orleans for the second meeting with Tulane this season. The Green Wave is 14-5 overall, with a 10-4 mark in league play, and enters Wednesday's contest on a six-game win streak.
A trio of Green Wave players average double figures, led by freshman Jerkaila Jordan's 14.8 points per game to go along with 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Krystal Freeman adds 13.1 PPG and Arsula Clark chips in 12.1 points per contest. Freeman leads Tulane on the glass with 7.7 rebounds per contest. Mia Heide is just behind her with 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
Tulane leads the all-time series 14-11, but the Knights hold the most recent victory, a 66-62 decision in Orlando on Dec. 15.
UP NEXT
UCF returns to The City Beautiful to host Tulsa on Saturday at noon. UCF defeated the Golden Hurricane 53-42 in Tulsa on Dec. 19.
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