ORLANDO – Guiding the UCF women's basketball team to another undefeated week in league play led fifth-year senior Tay Sanders to the first American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor of her career on Monday.
Sanders helped UCF (12-2, 4-0 The American) move into sole possession of the top spot in the league standings.
Sanders poured in a career-high 23 points in the Jan. 11 win over Houston. She registered her second 20-point game of the season while shooting 53.3 percent (8-15) from the field. She pulled down three of her five rebounds on the offensive glass and dished out a pair of assists to help the Knights snap Houston's six-game win streak.
Sanders carried her momentum over into Sunday's win over No. 24 South Florida. She had eight points in the first quarter and 13 at halftime. She finished with 18 points – her seventh double-figure game this season and her fifth in the last six games – on 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) shooting. She dished out a pair of assists and had two steals to help UCF earn its first win over a ranked opponent this season and snap South Florida's four-game win streak.
The Bartow, Fla., native averaged 20.5 points per game while shooting 57.7 percent from the field. She also averaged 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Knights.
Sanders becomes the fifth Knight to be recognized with the league's weekly honor. She joins teammate Brittney Smith and former Knights Aliyah Gregory, Zykira Lewis and Kay Kay Wright as The American Player of the Week honorees. She is the first Knight to earn the distinction this season and the first since Smith earned the accolade on Feb. 15, 2021.
UCF, who earned votes in the AP Top 25 for the first time this season, is off to its first 4-0 start in league play since the 2018-19 season.
Next up, UCF heads to SMU for a midweek matchup against the Mustangs on Jan. 19.
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