The Rundown
- The Knights head to Colorado for the first time in the Big 12 era with a matchup Wednesday, January 8 at 9 p.m.
- This will be the second time in program history that the Knights have travelled to Boulder, they opened the 2008 season at the CU Events Center.
- Colorado leads the Big 12 with 28.4 bench points per game.
- UCF is second in the league with 13.8 offensive rebounds per game.
Scouting Colorado
- Colorado enters the matchup with a 10-4 overall record and 1-2 in the Big 12.
- Head coach JR Payne is in his 16th season overall and ninth season with the Buffaloes boasting a 153-107 record.
- Frida Formann leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game.
- Kindyll Wetta dishes out 6.0 assists per game, ranking her fourth in the Big 12.
A Win Would…
- Improve the Knights to 8-6 on the season
- Give the Knights their first Big 12 conference win of the season
- Give UCF its first win against the Buffaloes
- 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 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 20.9 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 eight 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
- Hannah Gusters is first on the team with 7.4 rebounds and ranks eighth in the Big 12.
- 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).
- Achol Akot is second on the team with 7.3 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the conference.
- Akot recorded a double-double against Stetson (11/16) with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Knights in the Rankings
- As a team, UCF is ranked in the top 5 of the Big 12 conference rankings in five categories.
- 2nd: Rebounds (offensive) per game (13.8)
- 4th: Fouls per game (15.4)
- 4th: Free throw attempts per game (20.00)
- 4th: Free throws made per game (13.62)
- 4th: Steals per game (9.2)
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.