ORLANDO - UCF will head to Ohio for its first road trip of 2024 to play Cincinnati on Wednesday, Jan. 10 with tip slated for 6 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena.
The Rundown
• The game will be the 24th matchup between the two teams, as Cincinnati and UCF both transitioned into the Big 12 Conference on July 1, 2023, from the American Athletic Conference.
• As familiar conference opponents, the Knights are 4-5 in Fifth Third Arena.
• The Knights are ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 with a 74.9 free-throw percentage as the Bearcats are just below in third (73.9).
• UCF and Cincinnati spent Thanksgiving break in the tropics, as the Knights were in Puerto Rico and the Bearcats were in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Scouting Cincinnati
• The Bearcats head into the matchup with an 8-6 record and 0-3 mark in the Big 12.
• Cincinnati is on a three-game losing streak, facing ranked opponents in two of its last three games.
• Head Coach Katrina Merriweather is in her first season at Cincinnati and eighth overall as a head coach.
• Jillian Hayes leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.8 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game.
• Hayes has recorded five double-doubles this season.
• As a team, the Bearcats are No. 1 in the Big 12 for free-throws made per game (16.57).
A Win Would…
• Give the Knights their first win in Big 12 conference play
• Improve their overall record this season to 10-4
• Improve the series to 14-10
• Give Sytia Messer her 24th win at UCF
• Be better than a loss
Déjà Vu
• Kaitlin Peterson recorded back-to-back 20-plus point games against Oklahoma State on Jan. 3 and and Kansas State Jan. 6. The Eufaula, Alabama, native tallied 22 points in both games.
• Peterson’s achievement marked the first time a UCF player has score 20 or more points in consecutive games since the 2021-22 season when Diamond Battles scored 21 points in back-to-back games on Jan. 22 and 26.
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
• The UCF women’s basketball team fell to No. 11 Kansas State, 72-56, Saturday afternoon inside Addition Financial Arena. The Knights outscored the Wildcats in the second half but were unable to overcome Kansas State's first half lead.
• Kaitlin Peterson finished with 22 points, scoring 20-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Peterson led the Knights in scoring for the 10th time this season, earning her sixth 20-plus point game against Kansas State. The Eufaula native ranks fourth in points per game in the Big 12, averaging 19.5 in her first season with UCF.
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, which gave UCF its best start.
• Last season under first year head coach Sytia Messer, the Knights started 6-0 to mark the second-best start at the time, behind the 7-0 start in 1984.
Crashing the Boards
• Freshman Achol Akot leads the team in rebounds, averaging 9.2 rebounds.
• Currently, she is ranked No. 47 in the NCAA for rebounds per game.
• 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 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.
Give ‘Em The Freebies
• As a team, the Black and Gold are ranked 62nd in the nation with a free-throw percentage of 74.9.
• In the matchup against Anderson on Nov. 13, the Black and Gold made a season-high 24 free throws along with an .857 shooting percentage from the line.
• In the Big 12, the Knights are No. 2 in free throw percentage just behind Texas Tech (75.4).
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 three games and left the island with three wins, for an overall record of 6-0 at that point in the season.
• UCF defeated Jackson State, St. John’s and Sacred Heart in the Discover Puerto Rico Classic.
Starting the season on 100
• UCF started the season 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 on Nov. 14.
• UCF topped 100 points in a game for the first time since Jan. 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.