2021–22 UCF Knights women's basketball team

2021–22 UCF Knights women's basketball
2021–22 UCF Knights women's basketball
Cancún Challenge Riviera Division champions; AAC regular season & tournament champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
AP	No. 24
Record	26–3 (14–1 The American)
Head coach	Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Tahnee Balerio; Nykesha Sales; Isoken Uzamere;
Home arena	Addition Financial Arena
	Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 American Athletic Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 24 UCF †	14	–	1	.933	26	–	4	.867
South Florida	12	–	3	.800	24	–	9	.727
Tulane	11	–	5	.688	21	–	10	.677
Temple	8	–	8	.500	13	–	15	.464
SMU	7	–	7	.500	14	–	15	.483
Houston	7	–	9	.438	18	–	16	.529
Memphis	6	–	9	.400	16	–	12	.571
Tulsa	5	–	8	.385	17	–	11	.607
Wichita State	5	–	11	.313	14	–	16	.467
East Carolina	4	–	11	.267	11	–	18	.379
Cincinnati	4	–	11	.267	11	–	17	.393

† 2022 AAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2021–22 UCF Knights women's basketball team represented the University of Central Florida during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Knights compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the American Athletic Conference (The American). The Knights, in the program's 45th season of basketball, were led by sixth-year head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, and play their home games at the Addition Financial Arena on the university's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The Knights finished their regular season 22–3 and were American Athletic Conference champions at 14–1, winning the conference tournament and an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, where they defeated Florida in the first round before losing to UConn in the second round.

Roster[edit]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Laila Jewett	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	Bishop Ireton	Woodbridge, VA
G	1	Tay Sanders	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Bartow Chipola	Bartow, FL
G	3	Diamond Battles	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	Winter Haven	Winter Haven, FL
G	4	Kiera Brown	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS Jr	Palm Beach Gardens	Rivera Beach, FL
F	5	Masseny Kaba	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Cathedral	Dorchester, MA
G	11	Becca Ripley	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Sr	New Hampton	Stratham, NH
G	14	Asia Todd	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr	Clayton Liberty	Clayton, NC
G	23	Alisha Lewis	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Strath Haven Syracuse	Wallingford, PA
F	24	Jnaya Walker	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Bolingbrook HS Trinity Valley	Bolingbrook, IL
G	25	Ahna Burney	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Jr	DME Sports Academy	Vancouver, WA
F	30	Neila Luma	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Sr	Bethlehem Catholic George Washington	Macungie, PA
G	31	Shania Meertens	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	RS Sr	Winter Springs Clemson	Winter Springs, FA
F	32	Britney Smith	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Boone	Orlando, FL
F	33	Destiny Thomas	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Forest Park	Atlanta, GA
F	42	Ashton Verhulst	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Bishop Miege	Desoto, KS
G		Savannah Henderson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Timber Creek	Orlando, FL

Head coach

Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa)

Assistant coach(es)

Tahnee Balerio (Missouri State)
Nykesha Sales (Connecticut)
Isoken Uzamere (Hofstra)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 13, 2022

Schedule and results[edit]

^[1]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Duquesne	W 68–39	1–0	Addition Financial Arena (2,558) Orlando, FL
November 12, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		No. 15 Tennessee	L 41–49	1–1	Addition Financial Arena (2,819) Orlando, FL
November 17, 2021* 7:00 pm, ACCNX		at Virginia	W 59–38	2–1	John Paul Jones Arena (1,432) Charlottesville, VA
November 21, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Belmont	W 57–45	3–1	Addition Financial Arena (2,385) Orlando, FL
November 26, 2021* 6:30 pm, FloHoops		vs. Idaho State Cancún Challenge Riviera Division	W 58–41	4–1	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (103) Cancún, Mexico
November 27, 2021* 4:00 pm, FloHoops		vs. USC Cancún Challenge Riviera Division	W 56–47	5–1	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (114) Cancún, Mexico
December 2, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Arkansas	W 52–51	6–1	Addition Financial Arena (2,777) Orlando, FL
December 12, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Mercer	W 61–47	7–1	Hawkins Arena (972) Macon, GA
December 14, 2021* 6:00 pm, FloHoops		at Seton Hall	W 68–56	8–1	Walsh Gymnasium (613) South Orange, NJ
December 18, 2021* 7:30 pm, BTN+		at Iowa	L 61–69	8–2	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,236) Iowa City, IA
December 29, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Princeton	Postponed		Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, NJ
AAC regular season
January 5, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tulane	W 64–55	9–2 (1–0)	Devlin Fieldhouse (542) New Orleans, LA
January 8, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at East Carolina	W 52–43	10–2 (2–0)	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (534) Greenville, NC
January 11, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Houston	W 62–59	11–2 (3–0)	Addition Financial Arena (2,411) Orlando, FL
January 16, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPNU		No. 24 South Florida War on I-4	W 61–57	12–2 (4–0)	Addition Financial Arena (2,763) Orlando, FL
January 19, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at SMU	Canceled		Moody Coliseum Dallas, TX
January 22, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cincinnati	L 57–61	12–3 (4–1)	Fifth Third Arena (626) Cincinnati, OH
January 26, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Tulane	W 69–67	13–3 (5–1)	Addition Financial Arena (2,371) Orlando, FL
January 29, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Wichita State	W 68–50	14–3 (6–1)	Charles Koch Arena (1,283) Wichita, KS
January 31, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Temple Rescheduled from January 2	W 64–55	15–3 (7–1)	Addition Financial Arena (2,177) Orlando, FL
February 5, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Memphis	W 71–57	16–3 (8–1)	Addition Financial Arena (2,712) Orlando, FL
February 9, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Houston	W 54–44	17–3 (9–1)	Fertitta Center (344) Houston, TX
February 13, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN2		at South Florida War on I-4	W 54–33	18–3 (10–1)	Yuengling Center (2,086) Tampa, FL
February 16, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Wichita State	W 60–35	19–3 (11–1)	Addition Financial Arena (2,289) Orlando, FL
February 19, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Temple	W 68–31	20–3 (12–1)	McGonigle Hall (1,173) Philadelphia, PA
February 26, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Cincinnati	W 74–39	21–3 (13–1)	Addition Financial Arena (2,806) Orlando, FL
March 2, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Tulsa	W 61–48	22–3 (14–1)	Addition Financial Arena (2,435) Orlando, FL
AAC Women's Tournament
March 8, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+	(1) No. 25	vs. (8) Tulsa Quarterfinals	W 69–54	23–3	Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX
March 9, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+	(1) No. 25	vs. (6) SMU Semifinals	W 61–28	24–3	Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX
March 10, 2022 9:00 pm, ESPNU	(1) No. 25	vs. (2) South Florida Championship	W 53–45	25–3	Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 19, 2022* 3:30 pm, ESPNews	(7 B) No. 24	vs. (10 B) Florida First Round	W 69–52	26–3	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (5,073) Storrs, CT
March 21, 2022* 9:00 pm, ESPN	(7 B) No. 24	at (2 B) No. 5 UConn Second Round	L 47–52	26–4	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. B=Bridgeport. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings[edit]

2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18	Final
AP											RV				RV	RV	RV	25	24
Coaches	RV	-	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	23	24	24

**Legend**
		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes

References[edit]

^ "2021–22 (W) Basketball Schedule". UCF Athletics. Retrieved March 13, 2022.

External links[edit]

Official Team Website

[1] "2021–22 (W) Basketball Schedule". UCF Athletics. Retrieved March 13, 2022.

[1]

v t e UCF Knights women's basketball
Venues	Education Gymnasium (1977–1991) UCF Arena (1991–2007) Addition Financial Arena (2007–present)
Rivalries	South Florida
Culture & lore	History Knightro Marching Knights
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

Roster[edit]

Schedule and results[edit]

Rankings[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]