The Rundown
- The Knights head out west for their first road test of the season as they will spend Thanksgiving Week in Las Vegas at the UNLV Thanksgiving Classic.
- UCF faces UNLV Wednesday, November 27 at 3 p.m. followed by Montana State Friday, November 29 at 3 p.m.
- The Knights boast a 1-0 record against UNLV and this will be the first meeting between the Knights and Bobcats.
Scouting UNLV
- UNLV enters the matchup with a 4-2 overall record and are coming off of an 88-58 loss to Oklahoma (11/22).
- Head coach Lindy La Rocque is in her 5th season overall and boasts a 106-24 record with the Runnin’ Rebels, marking the first head coach in UNLV women’s basketball history to reach 100 wins in just four seasons.
- Kiara Jackson leads the team in points with 79 and 31 assists.
- Alyssa Brown is first on the team with 14 steals, 10 blocks and 43 rebounds.
Scouting Montana State
- Montana State heads into the game with a 4-1 record.
- Head coach Tricia Binford is in her 19th season and has a record of 329-249.
- The Bobcats returned 10 players from last year including four starters.
- Marah Dykstra is averaging 14.6 points per game with 73 points so far this season.
- Katelyn Martin crashes the board averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.
A Win Would…
- Improve the Knights to 7-0 on the season
- Give the Knights their first road win of the season
- Improve the overall series between UNLV to 2-0
- Improve the overall series between Montana State to 1-0
- Be better than a loss
Big 12 Weekly Awards Sweep
- For the first time in UCF women’s basketball history, the Knights swept the Big 12 conference awards with Kaitlin Peterson earning Player of the Week and Emely Rodriguez tabbed Freshman of the Week (11/25).
- Peterson tallied 79 points over three games with an average of 26.3 points per game.
- In Friday’s matchup against SIUE, Peterson tied her career high by recording 35 points, going 3-5 from beyond the arc and 11-17 from the field.
- The Eufaula, Alabama, native tallied her 30th double-digit game at UCF on Sunday when she scored 21 points.
- Rodriguez recorded another strong week in her rookie season with 35 points over three games.
- The La Romana, Dominican Republic, native tied her career high with 18 points in the Knights' 80-55 win against Florida A&M on Sunday.
- The freshman currently averages 13.5 points per game and is ranked first among freshmen in the Big 12 in scoring.
Strong Start
- The Knights 76-44 victory over Iona on Nov. 5 marked the seventh consecutive season opener victory for the Black and Gold.
- Since Coach Messer took over the program in 2022, the Knights have started out the season at home and are 3-0 in home openers in the Messer era.
- In Messer’s first year at the helm for UCF, she led her team to a 6-0 start which then marked the best start since the 7-0 start during the 1984-85 season.
- In just her second season, she broke the record with an 8-0 start to etch history into the record books with the best start in program history.
Rising to the Top
- Kaitlin Peterson once again leads the Knights in scoring with 22.0 points per game and is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 and ninth in the NCAA.
- Peterson recorded 35 points in the Knights 81-71 win against SIUE (11/22), the 35 points tied her career-high.
- The senior had a stellar debut season (23-24) for the Knights, as she led the Big 12 with 20.7 points per game.
- The senior was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, marking the first Knight to earn a Big 12 award in their inaugural season in the Big 12.
- Peterson surpassed 500 points at Oklahoma State (Feb. 21), as she recorded 599 points last season and ranked 19th in the NCAA for points per game.
- She scored double digits in 27 of UCF’s 28 games last season and reached 20 points on 15 occasions.
Crashing the Boards
- Hannah Gusters leads the team with 9.5 rebounds per game, which ranks her fourth in the conference.
- Gusters recorded three straight games with a double-double in just the third week of games.
- Achol Akot is second on the team with 7.5 rebounds, she recorded a double-double against Stetson (11/16) with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
- Gusters has tallied double digits in rebounds in five games this season.
- The Dallas, Texas, native earned her first start with the Knights on Nov. 5 against Iona.
- She earned her first double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the Black and Gold’s first game of the 24-25 season against Iona (Nov. 5).
- Gusters has known Coach Messer since the eighth grade and has followed her to three universities (Baylor, LSU and UCF).
Fresh Start
- Freshman, Emely Rodriguez started her collegiate career with 13 points against Iona in the Knights season opener Nov. 5.
- The Dominican Republic native tallied 18 points against Marquette (Nov. 7) which marked just her second game donning the Black and Gold.
- Rodriguez recorded three straight games with double-digit scoring and earned her first start against Stetson (11/16).