ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball team opens the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship on Tuesday, facing Cincinnati in the quarterfinals at Dickies Arena.
The second-seeded Knights (14-3, 12-2 The American) and seventh-seeded Bearcats (8-15, 5-11 The American) open the second session of the day at 7 p.m. ET.
Cincinnati advanced to the quarterfinals with a 78-67 win over 10th-seeded Memphis.
GAME INFO
Date: Tuesday, March 9
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats
Championship Central
QUARTERFINAL MATCHUP
UCF, who received votes in the March 8 AP Top 25 poll, swept the regular season meetings against Cincinnati. The Knights evened the all-time series with a 70-51 win at Cincinnati on Feb. 13. Brittney Smith scored a career-best 25 points with 12 rebounds. Alisha Lewis added 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three.
The Bearcats are led by The American Player of the Year IImar'I Thomas, who ranks seventh nationally in scoring at 23.9 points per game.
ALL-CONFERENCE TRIO
• Three members of the UCF women's basketball team were recognized for their performances throughout the 2020-21 American Athletic Conference season.
• Tay Sanders was a second team all-conference honoree and Brittney Smith was tabbed to the league's third team.
• Alisha Lewis became the second Knight to earn a major award in The American as she was named Newcomer of the Year and Co-Sixth Player of the Year. She is the first player in conference history to win two major awards in the same season as both the top newcomer and co-sixth player.
• The trio extended UCF's streak of multiple honorees on The American's regular season awards list to five consecutive years.
KNIGHT LEADERS
• UCF is led by Courtajia Sanders, who averages 11.0 points per game.
• Brittney Smith joins Sanders in double figures, averaging 10.1 points per contest and paces the Knights on the glass with 6.3 rebounds per game.
• Alisha Lewis, who poured in a career-high 27 points in the 65-62 loss in Tampa on March 2, bumped her average to 9.7 points per contest.
• Diamond Battles leads the Knights with 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game and is averaging 9.4 points per contest.
• Masseny Kaba is the second-leading rebounder at 5.7 per game. Kaba also averages 8.2 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 50.1 points per game, not only the best mark under Coach ABE, but also in program history.
• UCF leads the nation in scoring defense. Nine of the Knights' 17 opponents have been held below 50 points, with three (Virginia, Houston, Temple) held under 40.
• The Knights have held five teams to their season lows this season - Virginia, Houston, Temple, Cincinnati and South Florida.
• The Black and Gold are also holding their opponents to a 33.8 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 36th nationally in turnovers forced (19.29).
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