UCF Knights women's basketball

The UCF Knights women's basketball team represents the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the American Athletic Conference (The American).[3] The Knights play their home games at Addition Financial Arena located on the university's main campus, and are currently led by head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson.

UCF Knights
2019–20 UCF Knights women's basketball team
UniversityUniversity of Central Florida
First season1977–78
All-time record509–554 (.479)
Head coachKatie Abrahamson-Henderson (3rd season)
ConferenceThe American
LocationOrlando, Florida
ArenaAddition Financial Arena
(Capacity: 10,000[1])
NicknameKnights
Student sectionKnightmare
ColorsBlack and Gold[2]
         
Uniforms
Home
Away
Alternate
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1996, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2019
Conference Tournament Champions
1982, 1983, 1984, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2011
Conference Regular Season Champions
1982, 1983, 1984, 1999, 2003, 2005

The Knights have participated in the NCAA/AIAW Tournament eight times, five as a Division I team and three times as a Division II program. The Knights reached the Elite Eight in 1982, and won the 1980 AIAW Division-II Florida State Championship, before losing their first game in the national tournament.[4]

History
The CFE Arena, home to the Knights basketball teams.

UCF first competed in AIAW during the 1977–78 season as a Division II team. During the 1979–80 season, the Knights had a record of 23–9 and won the AIAW D–II Small College Florida State Championship. Although the college was a member of the Sunshine State Conference, it did not organize a women's basketball team within the conference until 1981. They moved up to AIAW Division I in 1981–82, the last year of AIAW, and advanced to the Division I Tournament quarterfinals.

They moved to the NCAA during the 1982–83 season, initially in Division II, along with the rest of the Sunshine State Conference. They were promoted to Division I during 1984–85 season. During the three years the team played in the Sunshine State Conference, the Knights won both the conference regular season title and the tournament title every year. During their first year in NCAA Division I, they had a 20–10 record, but were not given a tournament bid since they were a non-conference team that year.

The team would struggle in Division I New South Women's Athletic Conference (NSWAC) until 1990. After playing in the American South Conference in 1990–91 season, which merged into the Sun Belt Conference soon after, the team landed in the Trans-American Athletic Conference (TAAC) during 1992–93 season. In 1995–96 season, the Knights surprised everybody by winning the TAAC Tournament, and making their first appearance in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament (though they were eliminated in the first round).

In 1996–97 season, UCF hired Lynn Bria as their women's basketball head coach, and the team began to see more success. During the 1998–99 season, the Knights finally won the TAAC regular season title with a 13–3 record and the Conference Tournament, allowing the team to enter the NCAA Tournament a second time. After their NCAA Tournament ouster, Bria was replaced as head coach by Gail Striegler.

After two years of struggling, Striegler put together a string of four winning seasons in what had become the Atlantic Sun Conference in the 2001–02 season. The team won the Atlantic Sun regular season title in 2002–03 and 2004–05, but failed to win the Conference Tournament, and thus never played in the NCAA Tournament during those years.

In 2005–06, the Knights moved to Conference USA, and the women's basketball team struggled mightily, resulting in Striegler being fired and replaced by Joi Williams. The team continued to struggle in 2007–08 with a 10–20 record and a last place showing in the conference. But after a 2–11 start in 2008–09, they surprised C-USA by dominating, tying with four other teams with the second-best in-conference record of 11–5 (falling to the fifth seed due to their out-of-conference woes). In the Conference USA Tournament, they beat Rice (66–64), Houston (79–66) and SMU (62–51) in order to face Southern Miss in the Championship game. After playing to a 52–52 tie in regulation, the Knights dominated the overtime period, 13–2, to win the game, 65–54. It was UCF's first C-USA title, allowing the team to enter the NCAA Tournament a third time. Ranked No. 14 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, they surprised the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels, but ultimately lost 85–80.

After floundering during the 2009–10 season (10–15, 7–9), the Knights dominated the conference schedule in 2010–11 (22–10, 12–4), finishing 2nd in the regular season and winning their second C-USA title along with their fourth NCAA tournament appearance.

Traditions

Knightmare
The interior of the CFE Arena

When the basketball program moved into the New UCF Arena in the fall of 2007, the facility could hold more students than ever before. To go along with its new facility and its new commitment to basketball, a new student section known as the "Knightmare" was formed. The "Knightmare" debuted on January 11, 2008 during a men's basketball game.[1] Adorned in their black Knightmare shirts, the students completely filled the bleachered section behind the basket and the overflow section in the upper deck.

One of UCF's most unusual basketball traditions is its free throw chant. Started by students in the 1990s, UCF fans started by holding their right arms with clenched fists almost straight up when a UCF player shoots a free throw. When the basketball is made, the fans would stomp their right foot twice, clap their hands twice, make a shooting motion with their right hand while chanting "woosh." In recent years, after the appropriately named Stomp Stomp, Clap Clap, Woosh chant, fans would chant U-C-F afterwards, making a U, a C, and an F over their heads. During the 2010–2011 season, a group of students started a new tradition; if a UCF player makes all of his/her free throws, the chant would be followed by "ballin".

There is also another tradition where if the opponent goes for a shot and gets an "air ball," students would chant the entire game for that one player. It's been shown as an effective way to get into the player's mind.[5]

Team record
Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
FTU (AIAW Division II Independent) (1977–1978)
1977–78 Judy Martino 10–11
UCF (AIAW Division II Independent) (1978–1981)
1978–79 Nancy Sirmons 17–5
1979–80 Nancy Sirmons 23–9AIAW D–II Florida State Champion
1980–81 Sharon Adamson 13–10
UCF (AIAW D–I Sunshine State Conference) (1981–1982)
1981–82 Joe Sanchez 24–1510–21stAIAW Elite 8
UCF (NCAA D–II Sunshine State Conference) (1982–1984)
1982–83 Joe Sanchez 25–512–01stNCAA D–II First Round
1983–84 Joe Sanchez 23–711–11stNCAA D–II First Round
UCF (NCAA Division I Independent) (1984–1985)
1984–85 Joe Sanchez 20–10
UCF (New South Women's Athletic Conference) (1985–1990)
1985–86 Nancy Little 13–155–7
1986–87 Nancy Little 3–231–11
1987–88 Beverly Knight 4–231–11
1988–89 Beverly Knight 11–172–10
1989–90 Beverly Knight 7–203–9
UCF (American South Conference) (1990–1991)
1990–91 Beverly Knight 10–154–9
UCF (Sun Belt Conference) (1991–1992)
1991–92 Gail Falkenberg 10–185–11
UCF (Trans-American Athletic Conference/Atlantic Sun Conference) (1992–2005)
1992–93 Jerry Richardson 4–243–97th
1993–94 Jerry Richardson 12–158–43rd
1994–95 Jerry Richardson 11–167–96th
1995–96 Jerry Richardson 15–147–86thNCAA First Round
1996–97 Lynn Bria 13–159–74th
1997–98 Lynn Bria 17–1111–52nd
1998–99 Lynn Bria 20–1013–31stNCAA First Round
1999–2000 Gail Striegler 9–205–139th
2000–01 Gail Striegler 10–188–106th
2001–02 Gail Striegler 17–1313–73rd
2002–03 Gail Striegler 19–1113–31st
2003–04 Gail Striegler 17–1314–64th
2004–05 Gail Striegler 19–1016–41st
UCF (Conference USA) (2005–2013)
2005–06 Gail Striegler 7–215–1111th
2006–07 Gail Striegler 8–223–1311th
2007–08 Joi Williams 10–203–1312th
2008–09 Joi Williams 17–1711–55thNCAA First Round
2009–10 Joi Williams 11–167–98th
2010–11 Joi Williams 22–1112–42ndNCAA First Round
2011–12 Joi Williams 12–177–98th
2012–13 Joi Williams 16–187–98th
UCF (American Athletic Conference) (2013–present)
2013–14 Joi Williams 10–203–159th
2014–15 Joi Williams 9–215–138th
2015–16 Joi Williams 7–234–1410th
2016-17 Katie Abrahamson-Henderson 21-129-74thWNIT 2nd Round
2017-18 Katie Abrahamson-Henderson 22-1112-43rdWNIT 2nd Round
2018-19 Katie Abrahamson-Henderson 26-613-32ndNCAA First Round
Total:583–615

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References
  1. "CFE Arena". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  2. "Colors | University of Central Florida Brand Guide". Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  3. McMurphy, Brett. "Old Big East now American Athletic". ESPN. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. "2013-14 UCF Women's Basketball Yearbook". 2013. p. 43. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. "UCF Knights stun Gators in basketball". Florida Today. 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
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