ORLANDO -- Headlined by a 7-0 start, the UCF women's basketball team is set to host New Orleans at 11 a.m. on Dec. 11 for its annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears to toss on the court at halftime.
The Rundown
• The Knights will continue their homestand as New Orleans heads to Orlando for a Monday morning matchup.
• The Privateers hold an 8-1 advantage with the series tied 1-1 in Orlando.
• This will be the first matchup between the two teams since 2002.
• UCF will look to keep its winning streak going as an 8-0 record would mark the best start in program history.
• The Black and Gold will continue their homestand with three more games before they take a break for Christmas.
Scouting New Orleans
• The Privateers come into the matchup with a 1-7 record and are on a four-game losing streak.
• New Orleans has played two of the Knights’ upcoming conference matchups with opening the season at Oklahoma State (L, 66-74) and then at Houston (L, 54-81).
• Head Coach Trelanne Powell is in her first season at New Orleans, she made the jump up from Tuskegee (D2) where she spent the last five years boasting a 96-32 record.
• DeArica Pryor leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game.
• Zoe Cooper crashes the boards with 5.4 rebounds per game while Alexis Calderon has snagged 18 steals this season.
Last Time Out
• UCF snagged a one-point win over Campbell, 42-41 Sunday afternoon in Addition Financial Arena.
• Achol Akot proved to be a catalyst, helping the Knights take the lead with 0.9 seconds left in the fourth following two free throws to give UCF a one-point lead and earn its seventh win of the season, tying for the best start in program history since the 1984 season. Akot tallied 14 points and added nine rebounds along with one steal.
• A triple from Peterson changed the momentum of the game with 3:41 left in the final frame. The Knights proceeded to go on a 12-2 run as Akot ended the game with two made free throws going 4-6 on the day to aid the Black and Gold in the 42-41 win over the Fighting Camels. The game marked the lowest-scoring output for the Knights since Feb. 12, 2021, in UCF's 41-39 victory over UAB.
A Win Would…
• Improve the Knights to 8-0 on the season.
• Mark the best start in UCF women’s basketball history.
• Give Sytia Messer her 76th win
7-0 Start
• The Knights are currently on a seven-game winning streak to start the season off.
• With the win against Campbell (12/3) the Black and Gold secured its seventh win to tie the program record.
• Last season under first year head coach Sytia Messer, the Knights started out 6-0 marking the second-best start since the 7-0 start in 1984.
Crashing the Boards
• Freshman Achol Akot leads the team in rebounds, averaging 9.6 rebounds.
• Currently, she is ranked No. 21 in the NCAA for offensive rebounds per game (4.0).
• Along with ranked No. 1 in rebounds out of all D1 freshman players.
1,000 Club
• Mya Burns eclipsed 1,000 career points milestone on Dec. 3 against Campbell.
• Burns came to UCF in the 2022-23 season, as she spent her first three seasons at Georgia Southern and accumulated 656 points.
• The South Carolina native has tallied 349 points and counting in her time at UCF.
• Burns is the first transfer to earn her 1,000 career points at UCF.
Give ‘Em The Freebies
• As a team, the Black and Gold are ranked 20th in the nation with a free throw percentage of 78.8.
• In the matchup against Anderson on Nov. 13, the Black and Gold recorded a season-high 24 free throws made along with a .857 shooting percentage from the line.
• In the Big 12, the Knights are No. 1 with a free-throw percentage of 78.8.
Discover Puerto Rico Classic
• The Black and Gold spent their Thanksgiving break in San Juan, Puerto Rico playing in the Discover Puerto Rico Classic.
• The Knights played a total of three games and left the island with three wins, for an overall record of 6-0.
• UCF faced Jackson State, St. John’s and Sacred Heart.
Starting the season on 100
• UCF started the season off with a 101-63 win against Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 6 marking the fifth consecutive season-opening victory, all of which have come on its home floor.
• The Knights also scored at least 90 points in a season-opener for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign, when they topped Florida Atlantic 94-74 Nov. 14.
• UCF topped 100 points in a single game for the first time since January 26, 1998, in its 102-70 victory at Troy.
• The Knights limited BCU to 16 or fewer points in three of the four quarters.
• With 13 3-point field goals, the comfortable victory also featured the second time in as many seasons that saw UCF drill at least 10 triples in its season-opening win. The team drained 11 3-point shots in its 2022-23 season-opening win over Winthrop, representing its lone contest with double-digit threes.
No. 3 goes for 30-plus (twice)
• Junior mid-year transfer Kaitlin Peterson dropped a then career-high 31 points in her first game as a Knight.
• Peterson shot 6-10 from beyond the arc and 12-19 from the field adding in one free throw.
• Marking it her second career game in double digits, and her first since Feb. 9, 2022, at Illinois.
• She also notched the first 30-plus point game by a Knight since Laila Jewett scored 34 in UCF’s 79-74 win over Samford Nov. 26, 2022.
• In the third game of the Puerto Rico Classic, Peterson recorded a career-high 32 points to mark her second 30-plus game of the season.
• She started off the season on a six-game double digit scoring streak.
New Faces on the Court
• In UCF ‘s season opener on Nov. 6 against Bethune-Cookman, a total of four Knights made their debut on the hardwood including Kaitlin Peterson, Timia Ware, Achol Akot and Jayla Kelly.
• Peterson, Ware and Akot all started for the Black and Gold and each played significant minutes.
• Akot was the sole freshman that played in the home-opener recording a game-high 14 rebounds highlighted by eight offensive rebounds and three steals.
• Khyala Ngodu made her college debut on Nov. 13 against Anderson recording five points in just three minutes of play.
Back On Campus
• UCF returns seven players from last year’s roster.
• Taylor Gibson, Mya Burns, Sierra Godbolt, Laila Jewett and Anzhané Hutton all saw court time last season.
• Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu and Asia Todd both missed the entire 2022-23 season due to injury.
Duo of Mid-Year Transfers
• Kaitlin Peterson (Indiana) and Timia Ware (LSU) transferred mid-year from their respective schools but were only able to practice with UCF due to playing games during the fall semester.
• Peterson played in six games during the fall where she recorded 24 points and five rebounds.
• Ware appeared in one game at LSU before transferring to UCF in December.
Welcome to Orlando
• Four new faces joined the UCF program in the offseason.
• A freshman duo of Achol Akot and Khyala Ngodu arrived in Orlando, along with the transfer class that includes Jayla Kelly (Missouri) and Mary McMillan (UNC-Wilmington).
• Kelly appeared in 26 games last season averaging 3.2 points and 2.7 rebounds.
• McMillan played in five games before suffering a season-ending injury.
Going International
• Freshman Achol Akot spent her summer playing with U19 Team Canada.
• Team Canada went on to earn bronze in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain with a win over France.
• Akot averaged 14.8 minutes in seven games along with 5.9 rebounds.
New Staff, New Era
• The Knights brought in five new faces to join the women’s basketball program.
• Chandler McCabe joined the staff as assistant coach in May, along with Erin Horne as director of operations.
• Tasha Taylor was added to the UCF women’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach in July 2023.
• Mike Carey, a 34-year collegiate coaching veteran with Big 12 Conference experience, enters his first season with the Knights in 2023-24.
• Walter Pitts rounds out the staff as assistant coach and director of player development.
Reppin’ the Swoosh
• UCF Athletics has renewed its contract with Nike.
• A new five-year deal keeps Nike as the official apparel and footwear provider of the Knights through the 2028-29 academic year.
• UCF will continue to work directly with Nike as the official supplier of uniforms, equipment and apparel for UCF Athletics.
• “As a Nike school since 2010, UCF has experienced tremendous growth with this partnership, and we will continue to elevate in the Big 12 Conference,” says UCF vice president and director of athletics Terry Mohajir.
• “Nike has allowed us to innovate and enhance our brand among some of the best in the country. We look forward to our direct collaboration with our partners at Nike and their renewed commitment and belief in UCF Athletics.”
New Kids on the Block
• UCF officially joined the Big 12 Conference on July 1, 2023.
• The Knights’ athletics program has now moved from Division III, Division II, the FCS level, the FBS level that included time in the Mid Atlantic Conference, Conference USA, the American Athletic Conference, and now to the Big 12 Conference.
• The Knights enter the Power 5 as the youngest school, having been founded in 1963 to supply NASA with engineers.
• UCF joined the conference with Cincinnati, Houston and BYU to push the conference to 14 women’s basketball programs.
• Currently, the Big 12 is the only women’s basketball conference with all of its members in the top 100 of the net rankings.
We>Me
• Coach Messer and her team came up with a motto for this year ‘We are greater than me’.
• We are greater than me means that we are greater than ourselves and its important for us to work together as a team rather than as a single individual.