ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball team begins a four-game road stretch on Sunday, heading to Macon, Georgia, to face Mercer.
The Knights return to action after a 10-day break for finals and tip against the Bears at 2 p.m. ET in Hawkins Arena.
GAME INFO
Date: Sunday, Dec. 12
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN+
LAST TIME OUT
UCF rebounded from a slow start – falling behind 10-0 from the jump – for a dramatic win over Arkansas. Trailing by one point with just 13 seconds remaining, Diamond Battles received the inbounds pass, drove to the basket and hit a reverse layup as the game-winner.
Battles and Tay Sanders combined to score 24 of their 28 points in the second half to give the Knights their first victory over the Razorbacks in program history. Destiny Thomas pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, with five coming on the offensive glass.
KNIGHT NOTES
- The Black and Gold defense remains one of the best in the nation as UCF ranks second among Division I teams, limiting opponents to just 44.3 points per game.
- UCF has held six of its seven opponents below 50 points and five teams to their season low.
- Diamond Battles paces the Knights with 15.3 points per game, having reached double figures in six of UCF's seven contests.
- Destiny Thomas pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds in the win over Arkansas, bumping her team-leading average to 9.1 boards per game, which ranks 65th in the country.
- Tay Sanders scored 13 of her season-best 15 points in the second half and hit her first three-pointer of the season in the win over Arkansas. Sanders is UCF's second-leading scorer at 9.6 points per game.
- The Knights have appeared among the teams receiving votes in four straight USA Today/WBCA Top 25 polls.
SCOUTING MERCER
The Bears are 6-4 on the season and have won three of their last four contests entering Sunday.
Jaron Dougherty leads a trio of Bears averaging double figures at 13.1 points per game. Amoria Neal-Tysor adds 12.6 points and Shannon Titus averages 10.5 points per contest for Mercer. Dougherty also leads Mercer with 8.0 rebounds per game. Titus pulls down 7.4 boards, swipes 2.2 steals and collects 1.4 blocks per game.
Sunday marks the third meeting in the last five seasons, but the programs are no strangers. UCF and Mercer faced off annually as members of the ASUN until 2005. UCF head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson and Mercer head coach Susie Gardner were teammates on Georgia's 1986 SEC championship squad.
NEXT UP
UCF continues its road trip on Tuesday, heading to Seton Hall for a 6 p.m. contest on FloHoops.
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