January 10, 2025

Women's Hoops Hosts Cincinnati for Space Game

by Jenna VanHoose

The Rundown

The UCF women’s basketball team hosts Cincinnati for its annual space game on Saturday, January 11 at 2 p.m.
This will be the 27th all-time matchup between the two teams as the series is tied 13-13.
Cincinnati leads the Big 12 with 22.5 free throw attempts per game and 17.36 free throws made per game.
UCF is third in the league with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Scouting Cincinnati

Cincinnati enters the matchup with a 9-5 overall record and 1-3 in the Big 12.
Head coach Katrina Merriweather is in her 9th season overall and second season with the Bearcats with a 23-23 record.
Forward, Jillian Hayes, leads the team points tallying 230 total, averaging 16.4 per game. She also leads in rebounds with a total of 137.
Senior guard, Tineya Hylton, pilots the Bearcats offense with 47 assists while also leading the team in steals with 30. She has also put up 167 points this season, the second most on the team.

A Win Would…

SpaceU

UCF women’s basketball has an annual space game where they wear a special jersey with the Citronaut logo on it along with a Canaveral Blue (named Canaveral Blue for the location of the Launch Pads at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida).
The game recognizes the University of Central Florida’s roots, founded as Florida Technological University in 1963 with the mission of providing personnel to support the growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
As the academic scope expanded beyond its original focus on engineering and technology, the school was renamed the University of Central Florida in 1978.
UCF is No. 1 nationally for placing graduates in aerospace industry jobs.
In 1968, UCF established its motto: “Reach for the Stars” to represent the University’s promising aerospace education in engineering, electronics and other technological professions.
29% of Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF Alumni.
The 50-yard line of FBC Mortgage Stadium is on the exact latitude as Launch Complex 39A, NASA’s most historic launch pad, 31 miles to the east.

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 the Nov. 22 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 21.2 points per game and is ranked No. 3 in the Big 12 and 11th in the NCAA.
Peterson recorded a career-high 39 points at Texas Southern (12/7), which ranks seventh in the NCAA.
She has recorded nine games in double digits this season and reached 35-plus points on two occasions.
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

Achol Akot is first on the team with 7.2 rebounds and ranks eighth in the Big 12.
Akot recorded a double-double against Stetson (11/16) with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Hannah Gusters is second on the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, which ranks 10th in the conference.
Gusters recorded three straight games with a double-double in just the third week of games.
Gusters has tallied double digits in rebounds in six 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).

Knights in the Rankings

As a team, UCF is ranked in the top 5 of the Big 12 conference rankings in five categories.
3rd: Rebounds (offensive) per game (13.2)
4th:Free throw attempts per game (20.79)
4th: Free throws made per game (14.50)
4th: Steals per game (9.2)
5th: Fouls per game (15.4)

Double-Double Trouble

Hannah Gusters has had a hot start to the season as she has recorded five double-doubles in just 10 games this season.
The Senior tallied three straight double-doubles in just the third week of games.
With five double-doubles, she is ranked fifth in the conference in double-doubles and 33rd in the NCAA.
The Dallas, Texas, native tallied a career-high 12 rebounds against Marquette (11/7).
Achol Akot, Emely Rodriguez and Khyala Ngodu have all recorded at least one double-double this year.