ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball team closes out its regular season with the War on I-4 on Thursday.
UCF (13-3, 11-2 The American) and No. 14/15 South Florida (15-2, 13-1* The American) tip at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU. *The American has declared a forfeit win for USF against Memphis for conference-standings purposes only as a result of the scheduled game from Jan. 17 that was not played. The teams' overall records are not affected.
The Knights will recognize their senior trio of Masseny Kaba, Courtajia Sanders and Jnaya Walker following the game.
GAME INFO
Date: Thursday, March 4
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNU
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WAR ON I-4
• Three points are on the line as UCF and South Florida play Thursday to close out the regular season.
• UCF holds an 18-9 advantage in the 2020-21 edition with victories by its men's tennis and football teams. The Knights also picked up six points at the cross country championship. Men's basketball split its season series, with each side adding three points, and the Bulls added three points in men's soccer.
• UCF won the inaugural 2016-17 trophy, 51-33, and the 2017-18 edition 49-35. The Knights won their third straight overall War on I-4 trophy with a final tally of 70-14. Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the spring sports in 2020, UCF led the War On I-4 rivalry series 36-9.
KNIGHT LEADERS
• UCF is led by Courtajia Sanders, who averages 11.6 points per game.
• A trio of Knights are close to double figure averages, as Brittney Smith sits at 9.9 points per contest. Alisha Lewis, who poured in a career-high 27 points in the 65-62 loss in Tampa on Tuesday, bumped her average to 9.7 points per contest.
• Diamond Battles leads the Knights with 3.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game and is averaging 9.2 points per contest.
• Smith paces the Knights on the boards, averaging 6.4 rebounds per contest.
• Masseny Kaba is the second-leading rebounder at 5.5 per game. Kaba also averages 7.7 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 50.4 points per game, not only the best mark under Coach ABE, but also in program history.
• UCF ranks third the nation in scoring defense. Eight of the Knights' 16 opponents have been held below 50 points, with three (Virginia, Houston, Temple) held under 40.
• The Knights have held four teams to their season lows this season - Virginia, Houston, Temple and Cincinnati.
• The Black and Gold are also holding their opponents to a 33.8 field goal percentage this season, which ranks sixth in the country.
• In each game this season, UCF has forced its opponent into double-digit turnovers, and ranks 31st nationally in turnovers forced (19.56).
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
The Bulls are ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/WBCA Top 25 and No. 15 in the AP Top 25. South Florida is 15-2 overall, with a 13-1 mark in league play. The American has declared a forfeit win for USF against Memphis for conference-standings purposes only as a result of the scheduled game from Jan. 17 that was not played. The teams' overall records are not affected.
A trio of Bulls average double figures, led by Elena Tsineke's 12.7 points per game. Sydni Harvey averages 11.4 points per game and Bethy Mununga averages a double-double with 11.2 points per game and 12.6 rebounds per contest. Elisa Pinzan dishes out 6.9 assists per contest and 1.8 steals per game.
The Bulls lead the all-time series 26-10. UCF has won four of the last five matchups.
UP NEXT
UCF heads to the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship as the No. 2 seed. The Knights open on March 9, playing the winner of the No. 7-No. 10 matchup at 7 p.m. ET in Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
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