ORLANDO - The Knights host Oklahoma State for their Big 12 home opener on Jan. 3 with tip off slated for 6 p.m.
The Rundown
• This is the second matchup in program history as the Cowgirls traveled to Orlando in 2015 and they came away with a 74-55 victory.
• With the Knights being picked last in the Big 12 preseason rankings, they will look to gain their first win in the Big 12 conference as one of the newest members.
• UCF is ranked first, with Oklahoma State third, in free throw percentage shooting 75.8% and 74.7% respectively.
• The Knights and Cowgirls both hosted New Orleans for a Kids Day game, with both teams coming away with a win.
Scouting Oklahoma State
• The Cowgirls head into the matchup with a 7-5 record and are 0-1 in the Big 12.
• Oklahoma State opened its Big 12 season at home as they fell to Iowa State, 76-68.
• Head Coach Jacie Hoyt is in her second season at Oklahoma State and seventh overall season as a head coach.
• Hannah Gusters leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game.
• Headlined by a 90.9 free throw percentage, Quincy Noble leads the Big 12.
• As a team, the Cowgirls attempt an average of 24.3 three-pointers per game.
A Win Would…
• Give the Knights’ their first win in Big 12 conference play
• Improve the record to 10-2
• Give Sytia Messer her 24th win at UCF
• Be better than a loss
Back in the Big 12
• Sytia Messer and Mike Carey have spent a good amount of their coaching career in the Big 12.
• Coach Messer spent seven years in Waco as an assistant coach at Baylor.
• Coach Carey is a veteran in the Big 12 where he was the head coach at West Virginia for 21 years, spending 10 of those in the Big 12.
• The Knights are the only coaching staff in the Big 12 to have a previous head coach and assistant coach with Big 12 experience.
Last Time Out
• A solid start proved to be too much for the Knights as they fell to Oklahoma, 69-52, at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday.
• The Knights (9-2, 0-1 Big 12) recorded 35 boards while the Sooners (7-5, 1-0 Big 12) tallied 15 steals and 18 assists.
• Kaitlin Peterson led the Knights with 14 points marking her 10th game with double-digit scoring this season. Mya Burns and Laila Jewett joined Peterson with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
• Achol Akot and Jayla Kelly crashed the boards for a team-high seven rebounds each and Akot added in 10 points.
• The Knights came out hot with an 11-0 run to start their inaugural season in the Big 12. UCF held the Sooners to 0-6 from beyond the arc to end the first, 21-15.
Big Defense
• UCF is ranked in the top 35 in three defensive categories.
• Tabbed at No. 22 in field goal defense with 34.9.
• Along with No. 33 in scoring defense (54.9) and 34 in three-point defense (25.8).
8-0 Start
• The Knights raced out to an 8-0 start to kick off the 2023-24 season, marking the best start in program history.
• The Black and Gold made history with a 72-45 win over New Orleans on Dec. 11.
• Last season under first year head coach Sytia Messer, the Knights started out 6-0 marking the then second-best start since the 7-0 start in 1984.
Crashing the Boards
• Freshman Achol Akot leads the team in rebounds, averaging 9.5 rebounds.
• Currently, she is ranked No. 39 in the NCAA for rebounds per game and No. 1 in all D1 Freshman.
• She has recorded a team-high in rebounds every game this season.
• Akot has tallied five games with double digits in rebounds.
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.
• 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 56th in the nation with a free throw percentage of 75.8.
• 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 in free throw percentage.
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 in the Discover Puerto Rico Classic.
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.
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.