STORRS, Conn. – The No. 24 UCF women's basketball team opens the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Saturday, facing Florida in the first round in Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.
The seventh-seeded Knights (25-3) and 10th-seeded Gators (21-10) tip at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPNews.
GAME INFO
Date: Saturday, March 19
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPNews
Listen: Twitch
NCAA Tournament Central
FIRST ROUND MATCHUP
The Knights face 10th seed Florida in the NCAA First Round. The Gators enter the NCAA Tournament with a 21-10 overall record. Florida is making its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance but its first since 2016.
A pair of active Gators average double figures, led by Zippy Broughton's 10.5 points per game. Jordyn Merritt adds 10.1 points per contest and is the leading rebounder with 5.2 boards per game. Broughton averages 1.4 steals per game while Merrit averages 1.3. Faith Dut has a team-high 25 blocks on the season.
HISTORY MAKERS
• UCF has earned its highest seed in the NCAA Tournament in each of its last three appearances under head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. The Knights are the No. 7 seed in the Bridgeport Region.
• The Knights made their debut in the national polls this season, climbing as high as No. 23 in the USA Today/WBCA poll. UCF enters the NCAA Tournament ranked 24th in both the coaches poll and the Associated Press Top 25.
• UCF enters the NCAA Tournament on a 13-game win streak, the longest streak in program history.
KNIGHT LEADERS
• Diamond Battles paces the Knights with 13.8 points per game, having reached double figures in 21 contests this season. The Winter Haven, Fla., native became the first Knight to be named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous first team all-conference honoree.
• Brittney Smith shot 50 percent or better from the field in 10 of the last 13 games. She is UCF's second-leading scorer at 10.2 points per game. She was named The American Sixth Player of the Year.
• Masseny Kaba is just shy of averaging double figures at 9.8 points per game.
• Alisha Lewis, who tied The American and UCF single game records with 10 steals against Houston, ranks 25th in the country in steals per game, averaging 2.64. Her 74 steals ranks 30th among Division I student-athletes.
• Destiny Thomas leads UCF and ranks 133rd nationally with 7.9 rebounds per game. She has 10 games with 10+ rebounds this season.
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 six seasons at the helm, UCF has held its opponents under 57 points per game. The Knights are holding opponents to 47.5 points per game, not only the best mark under Coach ABE, but also in program history.
• For the second straight year, UCF leads the nation in scoring defense.
• The Black and Gold have held 18 opponents to 50 points or under, with seven - Duquesne, Virginia, South Florida, Wichita State, Temple, Cincinnati, Tulsa and SMU - failing to reach 40 points.
• The Black and Gold are also holding their opponents to a 33.3 field goal percentage this season, which ranks second in the country. They rank 14th nationally in steals per game, averaging 11.2.
• UCF has forced each opponent this season into double-digit turnovers, with 12 committing 20+ turnovers. The Knights rank 20th nationally in turnovers forced at 19.89 per game.
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