2O17-18 UCF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON INFORMATION
2O17-18 UCF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON INFORMATION UCF INFORMATION
TEAM INFORMATION
Location.......................................................... Orlando, Fla. Founded..........................................................................1963 Enrollment.................................................................. 64,318 Nickname..................................................................Knights Colors......................................................... Black and Gold Conference ................ American Athletic Conference President................................................... Dr. John C. Hitt Director of Athletics........................ Dr. Daniel J. White Athletics Phone....................................... (407) 823-2261 Ticket Office Phone.............................. (407) 823-1000
2016-17 Record..............................................................21-12 American Athletic Conference Record.................. 9-7 American Finish....................................................... Fourth American Championship............................... Semifinals Home Record...................................................................11-6 Home American Record..............................................4-4 Road Record.................................................................... 9-5 Road American Record............................................... 5-3 Neutral Record...................................................................1-1 Postseason.....................................WNIT Second Round Starters Returning/Lost............................................... 3/2 Letterwinners Returning/Lost...................................6/3 Newcomers............................................................................5
CFE ARENA Capacity...................................................................... 10,000 Year Opened................................................................ 2007
COACHING STAFF Head Coach................Katie Abrahamson-Henderson Alma Mater.......................Iowa, 1990; Duquesne, 1992 Career Record....................................262-120 (12 years) UCF Record....................................... 21-12 (2nd Season) Assistant Coach....................................... Tahnee Balerio Alma Mater.....................................Missouri State, 2008 Assistant Coach.....................................Isoken Uzamere Alma Mater.....................................................Hofstra, 2011 Assistant Coach........................................ Nykesha Sales Alma Mater.....................................................UConn, 1998 Director of Operations..................... Stephanie Follett
STARTERS RETURNING G: Kay Kay Wright (4.8 ppg, 3.9 apg, 29.8 mpg) G: Aliyah Gregory (16.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 33.2 mpg) F: Tolulope Omokore (7.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 20.2 mpg)
HEAD COACH KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON
BASKETBALL HISTORY First Year of Basketball........................................1977-78 First Year at Division I Level..............................1984-85 First Year in American Athletic Conference....2013-14 All-Time Record...................................................... 546-611 NCAA Tournament Appearances/Last......Four/2011 WNIT Appearances/Last................................ One/2017
UCF, Not Central Florida
Please refer to the University of Central Florida as UCF in all references. Derivatives such as C. Florida, Cent. Florida and C. Fla., should not be used. Also, please note that UCF’s teams are no longer being referred to as the Golden Knights. Instead, they are simply called the Knights.
Earning its highest seed and first-round bye in The American Championship, No. 4 UCF topped Tulane in the quarterfinals to pick up its first victory in the league tournament. UCF reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2010-11 season and made its first-ever WNIT appearance. With a 73-53 victory over Stetson on March 16 marked the program’s first postseason victory in either the NCAA or WNIT tournaments. Under her guidance, a pair of Knights - Aliyah Gregory and Zykira Lewis - earned all-conference accolades. Having two Knights recognized on The American postseason teams was not the only program first; Gregory became the first Knight to earn First Team honors in The American.
Also known as Coach Abe, she was chosen as the America East Coach of the Year three times and guided Albany to a combined 83-13 record in league play. Moreover, Albany won 38-consecutive America East regular season contests from Feb. 1, 2012 through Feb. 26, 2014, setting a new league record and setting what was then the longest conference winning streak in all of Division I. That streak surpassed the old record of 37, set by Maine from 1995-97 under coach Joanne P. McCallie, Coach Abe’s mentor at both Maine and Michigan State. An accomplished student-athlete and a Parade Magazine and USA Today High School All-American, Abrahamson-Henderson played two seasons at Georgia for Andy Landers before transferring to Iowa to compete for Basketball Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer. At Iowa, she was a member of two Big Ten Conference championship teams and played in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. As a freshman at Georgia, she helped the Bulldogs capture the 1986 Southeastern Conference title.
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS
Associate Director/WBB Contact....Megan Herboth Office Phone.......................................... (407) 823-0994 Email................................. [email protected] Mailing Address.......................................PO Box 163555 ................................................................ Orlando, FL 32816 Overnight Address..........4465 Knights Victory Way .............................................................................Building 135 ................................................................ Orlando, FL 32816 Website................................................... UCFKnights.com Twitter............................................................. @UCF_WBB Facebook............................... UCF Women’s Basketball Instagram................................................................. ucf.wbb
On Feb. 14, Abrahamson-Henderson led her team to a 66-62 win over then-No. 22 USF. Not only did her squad collect all six points in the War on I4 rivalry series, it also picked up the program’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent in the Division I era.
Abrahamson-Henderson came to UCF after six seasons at Albany, where she led the Great Danes to a combined nine America East Conference tournament and regular season titles. Her Albany teams recorded five 20-win seasons en route to fivestraight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program’s first bid in 2011 and its first NCAA Tournament victory in 2016.
Asst. to Recruiting Coordinator/Video Director...Ebone Henry
Athletic Trainer................................................Alex Warne Basketball Office Phone.....................(407) 823-5807
UCF started the season with a 10-2 record, it’s best mark since the 1982-83 campaign. Heading into league play, Abrahamson-Henderson’s squad posted its best mark in The American at 9-7. During conference action, the Knights earned the program’s first-ever road victories over East Carolina and USF.
Following her college career, AbrahamsonHenderson played one season professionally in New Zealand.
On April 1, 2016, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was announced as UCF’s head women’s basketball coach. During the 2016-17 campaign, AbrahamsonHenderson led the Knights to their best season since joining the American Athletic Conference. Finishing the season with a 21-12 overall record, the Knights added 14 to their total in the win column from the previous season. That 14-victory swing was tied for the second-best turnaround among women’s Division I basketball teams.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, AbrahamsonHenderson earned a B.S. in physical education with an emphasis in sports administration from the University of Iowa. She received her master’s in education from Duquesne University in 1992. Abrahamson-Henderson and her husband, Michael, have two daughters, Savannah and Brooklyn. Michael also had a celebrated college basketball career and eventually played for the Harlem Globetrotters. He led Long Island-C.W. Post to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and scored 1,173 career points from 1981-84.
2017-18 ROSTER NUMERICAL ROSTER
No. Name 2 Korneila Wright 3 Zakiya Saunders 5 Masseny Kaba 11 Kayla Thigpen 12 Nyala Shuler 21 Sydnee McDonald 22 Aliyah Gregory 23 Lawriell Wilson 24 Fifi Ndour 25 Tolulope Omokore 30 Delphine St-Cyr Robitaille 31 Briana Robinson 33 Jamesha Paul 34 Ruona Uwusiaba
Pos. 5-7 5-9 6-3 5-8 6-0 5-11 5-10 5-8 6-1 5-11 5-10 5-5 5-8 6-3
Ht. G G F G G G G G F F G G G F
Cl. SO RS SR FR JR RS JR JR SR JR SR JR FR JR JR FR
Hometown/High School (Previous School) Orlando, Fla./Jones HS Augusta, Ga./Carthage Central (UAlbany) New York City, New York/Cathedral HS West Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Lakes HS Orlando, Fla./Edgewater HS Flint, Mich./ Flint Carman-Ainsworth HS (Chipola College) Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest HS Kenner, La./Warren Easton Charter HS (Tallahassee CC) Dakar, Senegal/Montverde Academy Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt HS Montreal, Quebec/Cegep Edouard Montpetit Newport News, Va./Jefferson County HS Pompano Beach, Fla./Dillard HS Aziaro otor owhe, Nigeria/Southwest Dekalb HS
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa, 1990; Duquesne, 1992) - second season Assistant Coach: Tahnee Balerio (Missouri State, 2008) Assistant Coach: Isoken Uzamere (Hofstra) Assistant Coach: Nykesha Sales (UConn, 1998)
PRESEASON NOTES ALL THE MILESTONES
• The Knights made history during the first year of head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson’s tenure. • On March 16, the Knights earned a 73-53 win over Stetson in the WNIT First Round, marking the program’s first postseason victory. UCF was 0-4 in their NCAA appearances. • A 61-57 win over Tulane in The American quarterfinals marked the program’s first win in The American tournament, after making the first-ever appearance in the semifinals. • On Jan. 18, the Black and Gold came away with the program’s first-ever win in Greensboro, N.C. Less than a month later, the Knights made history yet again with the first-ever win in Tampa. UCF had been 0-9 on the road at East Carolina and were 0-13 against USF in Tampa. • Based upon information available to the UCF Athletics Communications office, the 66-62 win over No. 22 USF marked the first victory for UCF over a ranked opponent. The Knights have come close several times including sending No. 20 Western Kentucky to overtime on Feb. 20, 1992 in a 90-77 defeat. • At 21-12, UCF surpassed the win total from its last five seasons. The last time the Knights had 21 or more wins came during the 2010-11 campaign (22-11, 12-4 C-USA). • The Knights won nine games in The American, which marked the most league wins since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season. • The Black and Gold’s 10-2 record through the first 12 games matched the program’s best start since the 1984-85 season. UCF also posted a 10-2 record in its first 12 games during that campaign.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
• One of the first things Coach Abe stressed to her team was defense. The Knights responded, shutting down opponents in 2016-17. • Allowing just 56.4 points per game, the Knights gave up the fewest PPG dating back to the 2001-02 season, according to the statistical information available to the UCF Communications office. • The Knights averaged 10.9 steals per game, the most since the 2012-13 season (11.3), and - for the first time since joining The American - had a positive scoring margin in league play (4.1) • UCF forced then-No. 1 UConn into a season-high 21 turnovers when the squads met on Jan. 1, 2017. • The Knights forced pair of opponents (Omaha, Dec. 20; Houston, Feb. 8) into 29 turnovers, the most by an opponent last season. • The Knights scored 44 points off the Cougar miscues, and 37 points off 29 Omaha turnovers.
• The Black and Gold’s 16 steals against Houston are the most the UCF has swiped against a league opponent since joining the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2013-14 campaign.
TURNING IT AROUND
• With a 21-12 overall record last season, the Knights won 14 more contests than the 2015-16 campaign. • UCF tied the second-best turnaround nationally in women’s basketball. Rider saw a 15-game improvement; New Hampshire saw a 14-game swing. • The Knights were one of two teams to reach 20 wins after posting single digit victories last year. Rider went 24-9 after an 8-22 campaign the year prior. •With the men’s team posting a 24-12 overall record, UCF turned in the best combined turnaround in Division I basketball. The Knights were one of 26 schools with both programs posting 20-win seasons.
GREGORY GOING OFF
• Rising senior Aliyah Gregory stepped up her game during the 201617 season, leading the team with 16.6 points per contest. • The Tampa native became the 22nd Knight in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She entered the Feb. 14 contest at USF just 10 points shy of the mark and hit the milestone with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter on her way to a careerhigh 34 points on the night. • Gregory averaged a scorching 19.9 points in conference play, which ranked third in the league. • She became the first Knight to earn First Team All-American Athletic Conference honors. •The guard tallied double-digit performances in 26 of 31 games, • During a nine-game stretch from Jan. 21 - Feb. 18, she scored 20 or more points in eight contests, including back-to-back 30-point performances.
TEAM INFORMATION
Location.......................................................... Orlando, Fla. Founded..........................................................................1963 Enrollment.................................................................. 64,318 Nickname..................................................................Knights Colors......................................................... Black and Gold Conference ................ American Athletic Conference President................................................... Dr. John C. Hitt Director of Athletics........................ Dr. Daniel J. White Athletics Phone....................................... (407) 823-2261 Ticket Office Phone.............................. (407) 823-1000
2016-17 Record..............................................................21-12 American Athletic Conference Record.................. 9-7 American Finish....................................................... Fourth American Championship............................... Semifinals Home Record...................................................................11-6 Home American Record..............................................4-4 Road Record.................................................................... 9-5 Road American Record............................................... 5-3 Neutral Record...................................................................1-1 Postseason.....................................WNIT Second Round Starters Returning/Lost............................................... 3/2 Letterwinners Returning/Lost...................................6/3 Newcomers............................................................................5
CFE ARENA Capacity...................................................................... 10,000 Year Opened................................................................ 2007
COACHING STAFF Head Coach................Katie Abrahamson-Henderson Alma Mater.......................Iowa, 1990; Duquesne, 1992 Career Record....................................262-120 (12 years) UCF Record....................................... 21-12 (2nd Season) Assistant Coach....................................... Tahnee Balerio Alma Mater.....................................Missouri State, 2008 Assistant Coach.....................................Isoken Uzamere Alma Mater.....................................................Hofstra, 2011 Assistant Coach........................................ Nykesha Sales Alma Mater.....................................................UConn, 1998 Director of Operations..................... Stephanie Follett
STARTERS RETURNING G: Kay Kay Wright (4.8 ppg, 3.9 apg, 29.8 mpg) G: Aliyah Gregory (16.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 33.2 mpg) F: Tolulope Omokore (7.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 20.2 mpg)
HEAD COACH KATIE ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON
BASKETBALL HISTORY First Year of Basketball........................................1977-78 First Year at Division I Level..............................1984-85 First Year in American Athletic Conference....2013-14 All-Time Record...................................................... 546-611 NCAA Tournament Appearances/Last......Four/2011 WNIT Appearances/Last................................ One/2017
UCF, Not Central Florida
Please refer to the University of Central Florida as UCF in all references. Derivatives such as C. Florida, Cent. Florida and C. Fla., should not be used. Also, please note that UCF’s teams are no longer being referred to as the Golden Knights. Instead, they are simply called the Knights.
Earning its highest seed and first-round bye in The American Championship, No. 4 UCF topped Tulane in the quarterfinals to pick up its first victory in the league tournament. UCF reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2010-11 season and made its first-ever WNIT appearance. With a 73-53 victory over Stetson on March 16 marked the program’s first postseason victory in either the NCAA or WNIT tournaments. Under her guidance, a pair of Knights - Aliyah Gregory and Zykira Lewis - earned all-conference accolades. Having two Knights recognized on The American postseason teams was not the only program first; Gregory became the first Knight to earn First Team honors in The American.
Also known as Coach Abe, she was chosen as the America East Coach of the Year three times and guided Albany to a combined 83-13 record in league play. Moreover, Albany won 38-consecutive America East regular season contests from Feb. 1, 2012 through Feb. 26, 2014, setting a new league record and setting what was then the longest conference winning streak in all of Division I. That streak surpassed the old record of 37, set by Maine from 1995-97 under coach Joanne P. McCallie, Coach Abe’s mentor at both Maine and Michigan State. An accomplished student-athlete and a Parade Magazine and USA Today High School All-American, Abrahamson-Henderson played two seasons at Georgia for Andy Landers before transferring to Iowa to compete for Basketball Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer. At Iowa, she was a member of two Big Ten Conference championship teams and played in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. As a freshman at Georgia, she helped the Bulldogs capture the 1986 Southeastern Conference title.
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS
Associate Director/WBB Contact....Megan Herboth Office Phone.......................................... (407) 823-0994 Email................................. [email protected] Mailing Address.......................................PO Box 163555 ................................................................ Orlando, FL 32816 Overnight Address..........4465 Knights Victory Way .............................................................................Building 135 ................................................................ Orlando, FL 32816 Website................................................... UCFKnights.com Twitter............................................................. @UCF_WBB Facebook............................... UCF Women’s Basketball Instagram................................................................. ucf.wbb
On Feb. 14, Abrahamson-Henderson led her team to a 66-62 win over then-No. 22 USF. Not only did her squad collect all six points in the War on I4 rivalry series, it also picked up the program’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent in the Division I era.
Abrahamson-Henderson came to UCF after six seasons at Albany, where she led the Great Danes to a combined nine America East Conference tournament and regular season titles. Her Albany teams recorded five 20-win seasons en route to fivestraight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program’s first bid in 2011 and its first NCAA Tournament victory in 2016.
Asst. to Recruiting Coordinator/Video Director...Ebone Henry
Athletic Trainer................................................Alex Warne Basketball Office Phone.....................(407) 823-5807
UCF started the season with a 10-2 record, it’s best mark since the 1982-83 campaign. Heading into league play, Abrahamson-Henderson’s squad posted its best mark in The American at 9-7. During conference action, the Knights earned the program’s first-ever road victories over East Carolina and USF.
Following her college career, AbrahamsonHenderson played one season professionally in New Zealand.
On April 1, 2016, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was announced as UCF’s head women’s basketball coach. During the 2016-17 campaign, AbrahamsonHenderson led the Knights to their best season since joining the American Athletic Conference. Finishing the season with a 21-12 overall record, the Knights added 14 to their total in the win column from the previous season. That 14-victory swing was tied for the second-best turnaround among women’s Division I basketball teams.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, AbrahamsonHenderson earned a B.S. in physical education with an emphasis in sports administration from the University of Iowa. She received her master’s in education from Duquesne University in 1992. Abrahamson-Henderson and her husband, Michael, have two daughters, Savannah and Brooklyn. Michael also had a celebrated college basketball career and eventually played for the Harlem Globetrotters. He led Long Island-C.W. Post to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and scored 1,173 career points from 1981-84.
2017-18 ROSTER NUMERICAL ROSTER
No. Name 2 Korneila Wright 3 Zakiya Saunders 5 Masseny Kaba 11 Kayla Thigpen 12 Nyala Shuler 21 Sydnee McDonald 22 Aliyah Gregory 23 Lawriell Wilson 24 Fifi Ndour 25 Tolulope Omokore 30 Delphine St-Cyr Robitaille 31 Briana Robinson 33 Jamesha Paul 34 Ruona Uwusiaba
Pos. 5-7 5-9 6-3 5-8 6-0 5-11 5-10 5-8 6-1 5-11 5-10 5-5 5-8 6-3
Ht. G G F G G G G G F F G G G F
Cl. SO RS SR FR JR RS JR JR SR JR SR JR FR JR JR FR
Hometown/High School (Previous School) Orlando, Fla./Jones HS Augusta, Ga./Carthage Central (UAlbany) New York City, New York/Cathedral HS West Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Lakes HS Orlando, Fla./Edgewater HS Flint, Mich./ Flint Carman-Ainsworth HS (Chipola College) Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest HS Kenner, La./Warren Easton Charter HS (Tallahassee CC) Dakar, Senegal/Montverde Academy Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt HS Montreal, Quebec/Cegep Edouard Montpetit Newport News, Va./Jefferson County HS Pompano Beach, Fla./Dillard HS Aziaro otor owhe, Nigeria/Southwest Dekalb HS
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa, 1990; Duquesne, 1992) - second season Assistant Coach: Tahnee Balerio (Missouri State, 2008) Assistant Coach: Isoken Uzamere (Hofstra) Assistant Coach: Nykesha Sales (UConn, 1998)
PRESEASON NOTES ALL THE MILESTONES
• The Knights made history during the first year of head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson’s tenure. • On March 16, the Knights earned a 73-53 win over Stetson in the WNIT First Round, marking the program’s first postseason victory. UCF was 0-4 in their NCAA appearances. • A 61-57 win over Tulane in The American quarterfinals marked the program’s first win in The American tournament, after making the first-ever appearance in the semifinals. • On Jan. 18, the Black and Gold came away with the program’s first-ever win in Greensboro, N.C. Less than a month later, the Knights made history yet again with the first-ever win in Tampa. UCF had been 0-9 on the road at East Carolina and were 0-13 against USF in Tampa. • Based upon information available to the UCF Athletics Communications office, the 66-62 win over No. 22 USF marked the first victory for UCF over a ranked opponent. The Knights have come close several times including sending No. 20 Western Kentucky to overtime on Feb. 20, 1992 in a 90-77 defeat. • At 21-12, UCF surpassed the win total from its last five seasons. The last time the Knights had 21 or more wins came during the 2010-11 campaign (22-11, 12-4 C-USA). • The Knights won nine games in The American, which marked the most league wins since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season. • The Black and Gold’s 10-2 record through the first 12 games matched the program’s best start since the 1984-85 season. UCF also posted a 10-2 record in its first 12 games during that campaign.
DOMINANT DEFENSE
• One of the first things Coach Abe stressed to her team was defense. The Knights responded, shutting down opponents in 2016-17. • Allowing just 56.4 points per game, the Knights gave up the fewest PPG dating back to the 2001-02 season, according to the statistical information available to the UCF Communications office. • The Knights averaged 10.9 steals per game, the most since the 2012-13 season (11.3), and - for the first time since joining The American - had a positive scoring margin in league play (4.1) • UCF forced then-No. 1 UConn into a season-high 21 turnovers when the squads met on Jan. 1, 2017. • The Knights forced pair of opponents (Omaha, Dec. 20; Houston, Feb. 8) into 29 turnovers, the most by an opponent last season. • The Knights scored 44 points off the Cougar miscues, and 37 points off 29 Omaha turnovers.
• The Black and Gold’s 16 steals against Houston are the most the UCF has swiped against a league opponent since joining the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2013-14 campaign.
TURNING IT AROUND
• With a 21-12 overall record last season, the Knights won 14 more contests than the 2015-16 campaign. • UCF tied the second-best turnaround nationally in women’s basketball. Rider saw a 15-game improvement; New Hampshire saw a 14-game swing. • The Knights were one of two teams to reach 20 wins after posting single digit victories last year. Rider went 24-9 after an 8-22 campaign the year prior. •With the men’s team posting a 24-12 overall record, UCF turned in the best combined turnaround in Division I basketball. The Knights were one of 26 schools with both programs posting 20-win seasons.
GREGORY GOING OFF
• Rising senior Aliyah Gregory stepped up her game during the 201617 season, leading the team with 16.6 points per contest. • The Tampa native became the 22nd Knight in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She entered the Feb. 14 contest at USF just 10 points shy of the mark and hit the milestone with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter on her way to a careerhigh 34 points on the night. • Gregory averaged a scorching 19.9 points in conference play, which ranked third in the league. • She became the first Knight to earn First Team All-American Athletic Conference honors. •The guard tallied double-digit performances in 26 of 31 games, • During a nine-game stretch from Jan. 21 - Feb. 18, she scored 20 or more points in eight contests, including back-to-back 30-point performances.
