Women's basketball: Tulsa is a must win for Knights

After starting the season 3-0 in conference play, the Knights' schedule has not gone according to plan. If the Knights want a chance to bounce back and climb in the standings, it starts Sunday in Tulsa.

TheKnights (11-10, 4-4) will square off with the Golden Hurricane (5-10, 1-6) at 2 p.m. at the Reynolds Center in hopes of getting back above .500 in conference play. UCF has lost their last two games and is 1-4 in their last five.

The Knights are only playing one game this week and players said the extra time to prepare really helped with game planning and healing injuries.

"With a two game week, you have a very short time to focus on your opponent, but with the time off we've been able to thoroughly scout our opponent and get back to full strength," said senior guard Jelisa Caldwell.

Tulsa, who sits at the bottom of Conference USA standings, has only won 1 home game this year and has struggled mightily this season, but the Knights can not afford to overlook the Golden Hurricane.

"Every win is important," said senior guard Chelsie Wiley. "We cannot overlook Tulsa, because at this point (in the season) we have to look at every game as the championship game. If we have that mindset, we should win."  

Tulsa is led by sophomore Taleya Mayberry, who is third in the league averaging 16.3 points per game. UCF's top scorers D'Nay Daniels, Aisha Patrick, Wiley, Caldwell are all averaging double figure points this season.

The Knights come back home following Sunday's game for a Thursday night bout against UTEP. The two teams are scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. at the UCF arena.

Fans can listen to the game live on 1140 AM or through the UCF Athletics website.