ORLANDO - The Knights will head to the Lonestar State for their regular season finale against Houston Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
The Rundown
• This contest will mark the 29th meeting between the teams and the second as becoming members of the Big 12 on July 1, 2023.
• In the last meeting on Jan. 27, the Knights earned their first Big 12 conference win with a 92-87 overtime victory in Addition Financial Arena.
• The Knights hold a 74.4 free throw percentage as Houston is 72.5 percent from the charity stripe.
• Both teams tally over 15 fouls per game, as the Knights recorded a season-high 33 free throws made when Houston visited Orlando on Jan. 27.
Scouting Houston
• Houston heads into the matchup with a 13-15 record and a 4-13 mark in the Big 12.
• The Cougars are on a three-game losing streak after losses to Iowa State, TCU and BYU.
• Head coach Ronald Hughey is in his 10th season at Houston and holds a 134-169 record.
• Laila Blair leads the Cougars with 16.1 points per game.
• N’Yah Boyd and Blair each average 3.4 rebounds per game. Boyd has dished out a team-high 91 assists this season.
• As a team, the Cougars are second in the Big 12 averaging 11.5 steals per game.
A Win Would…
• Give the Knights their fourth win in Big 12 conference play
• Improve the overall series between Houston to 23-7
• Give UCF its second win over Houston in conference play this season
• Be better than a loss
Rising to the Top
• Junior Kaitlin Peterson is having a stellar debut season for the Knights, as she is third in the Big 12 with 19.8 points per game.
• Peterson surpassed 500 points at Oklahoma State (Feb. 21), as she has 534 points this season and ranked 32nd in the NCAA for total points.
• The Eufaula, Alabama, native tallied 32 points against Baylor on Jan. 20 to mark her fourth game this season with 30 or more points, which leads the Big 12.
• In UCF’s 17 conference games, Peterson is averaging 19.9 points per game, which ranks her second in the league. She set a career high with 35 points at Cincinnati on Jan. 10.
• Peterson started her UCF career with 31 points in the Knights’ 101-63 victory against Bethune-Cookman, which was a career high at the time. She was 6-10 from beyond the arc and 12-19 from the field, adding in one free throw.
• She’s scored double digits in 25 of UCF’s 26 games this season and has reached 20 points on 13 occasions.
Double-Double Duo
• A pair of double-doubles from Khyala Ngodu and Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu lifted the Knights to a 92-87 win over Houston on Jan. 27.
• The frontcourt duo combined for 20 of UCF’s 44 first-half points.
• Ngodu recorded a career-high 25 points, grabbing 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and the first of her career. She also had three blocks and tallied one steal.
• Robinson-Nwagwu added 12 points, pulling down 10 rebounds for the first double-double of her career. She also had a game-high five assists for the Knights.
• The pair became the first UCF duo since Taylor Gibson and Destiny Thomas to record two double-doubles in one game. Gibson and Thomas achieved the accomplishment on Nov. 27, 2022, against SEMO.
50 = Magic Number
• The Black and Gold are 4-0 when limiting their opponent to 50 points or less.
• From Nov. 24 through Dec. 19, the Knights held five of their seven opponents to less than 50 points.
• UCF held Campbell (Dec. 3) and Morgan State (Dec. 19) to just 41 points marking the fewest points against an opponent this season.
Déjà Vu
• Kaitlin Peterson recorded back-to-back 20-plus point games on Jan. 3 and 6, tallying 22 points in both games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
• Peterson’s achievement marked the first time a UCF player has recorded consecutive 20-point games since the 2021-22 season when Diamond Battles scored 21 points in back-to-back games on Jan. 22 and 26.
Spreading the Wealth
• UCF is 10-3 when it records more assists than its opponent.
• Nine Knights have led UCF in assists in at least one game this season.
• Laila Jewett has led the team in assists throughout 16 games this season and ranks 13th in the Big 12 with 3.2 assists per game.
• The Black and Gold average 10.29 assists per game.
Crashing the Boards
• Freshman Khyala Ngodu leads the team in conference play with 6.9 rebounds per game, which ranks 10th in the conference.
• Ngodu has tallied 16 games with five-plus rebounds.
• The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native earned her first start with the Knights on Jan. 13 against West Virginia.
• She earned her first double-double with a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds in the Black and Gold’s first Big 12 win against Houston (Jan. 27).
Taking Advantage of The Freebies
• As a team, the Black and Gold are ranked second in the Big 12 with a free-throw percentage of 73.9.
• In the matchup against Houston on Jan. 27, UCF recorded a season-high 33 free throws made.
• The Knights are averaging 19.15 free throw attempts per game.
• Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu went 14-15 from the free throw line against West Virginia (1/13) to mark a career-high in free throws made and attempted.
• Robinson-Nwagwu’s 14 free throws made ranks her for second in the program’s single game records as Kay Kay Wright holds the top spot with 16.