FORT WORTH – The No. 23/25 UCF women's basketball team opens the 2022 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship on Tuesday, facing Tulsa in the quarterfinals at Dickies Arena.
The top-seeded Knights (22-3, 14-1 The American) and eighth-seeded Golden Hurricane (16-9, 5-8 The American) open the second day of games at 1 p.m. ET.
Tulsa advanced to the quarterfinals with an 88-86 overtime win over ninth-seeded Wichita State.
GAME INFO
Date: Tuesday, March 8
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats
Championship Central
QUARTERFINAL MATCHUP
UCF, who made its AP Top 25 debut on Tuesday, closed out the regular season with a 61-48 victory over Tulsa in the lone meeting between the programs this year. Destiny Thomas and Brittney Smith each tallied their third double-doubles of the season. Thomas finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Smith added 12 points and grabbed a career-best 14 boards. Diamond Battles added 14 points for the Knights.
Five members of the Golden Hurricane average double figures, led by Wyvette Mayberry's 14.0 points per game. Maya Mayberry adds 12.2 while The American Freshman of the Year Temira Poindexter averages 11.8 points per contest. Maddie Bittle (10.5) and Rebecca Lescay (10.1) round out Tulsa's double-digit scorers.
ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
• The American Athletic Conference postseason awards featured four senior Knights.
• Diamond Battles became the first Knight to earn The American Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
• Head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was named The American Coach of the Year.
• Brittney Smith became the third Knight to win The American Sixth Player of the Year.
• The captain trio of Diamond Battles, Masseny Kaba and Tay Sanders each earned all-conference recognition. Battles was a unanimous first team honoree while Kaba and Sanders garnered third team laurels.
• UCF extended its streak of multiple honorees on The American's regular season awards list to six consecutive years.
KNIGHT LEADERS
• Diamond Battles paces the Knights with 13.9 points per game, having reached double figures in 18 contests this season. The Winter Haven, Fla., native is one of five league players with six or more 20-point contests this season.
• Tay Sanders is UCF's second-leading scorer on the season, averaging 10.1 points per game.
• Brittney Smith shot 50 percent or better from the field in 10 of UCF's 15 league games. She averages 9.8 points per game for the Knights.
• Masseny Kaba is just shy of averaging double figures at 9.3 points per game.
• Alisha Lewis, who tied The American and UCF single game records with 10 steals against Houston, ranks 19th in the country in steals per game, averaging 2.72. Her 68 steals ranks 38th among Division I student-athletes.
• Destiny Thomas leads UCF and ranks 130th nationally with 8.0 rebounds per game. She is one of six league players with 10 or more 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 48.1 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 16 opponents to 50 points or under, with seven - Duquesne, Virginia, South Florida, Wichita State, Temple, Cincinnati and Tulsa - failing to reach 40 points.
• The Black and Gold are also holding their opponents to a 33.4 field goal percentage this season, which ranks second in the country. They rank 11th nationally in steals per game, averaging 11.4.
• 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 19.96 per game.
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