2O16-17 UCF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PRESEASON INFORMATION
UCF INFORMATION
Location.......................................................... Orlando, Fla.
Founded..........................................................................1963
Enrollment.................................................................63,002
Nickname..................................................................Knights
Colors......................................................... Black and Gold
Conference ................ American Athletic Conference
President................................................... Dr. John C. Hitt
Director of Athletics...................................Danny White
Athletics Phone....................................... (407) 823-2261
Ticket Office Phone.............................. (407) 823-1000
HEAD COACH KATIE
ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON
On April 1, 2016, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was
announced as UCF’s head women’s basketball coach.
Abrahamson-Henderson comes 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.
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.
CFE ARENA
Capacity...................................................................... 10,000
Year Opened................................................................ 2007
Press Row Phone................................... (407) 823-2477
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach................Katie Abrahamson-Henderson
Alma Mater.......................Iowa, 1990; Duquesne, 1992
Career Record..................................... 241-108 (11 years)
UCF Record.....................................................First 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
ALL ABOUT ‘ABE’
TEAM INFORMATION
Abrahamson-Henderson was the associate head
coach at Indiana prior to moving to Albany and also
held that title at Michigan State (2000-02). She
served as Missouri State’s head coach from 200207. During her coaching career, she has helped three
different teams reach the NCAA Tournament and
five programs reach postseason play.
Athletic Trainer............................................... Bill Sanders
Basketball Office Phone.....................(407) 823-5807
2015-16 Record.............................................................. 7-23
American Athletic Conference Record.................4-14
American Finish...................................................... T-Ninth
American Championship............................ First Round
Home Record..................................................................5-10
Home American Record.............................................. 3-6
Road Record.................................................................... 2-11
Road American Record................................................ 1-8
Neutral Record................................................................ 0-2
Postseason.................................................................... None
Starters Returning/Lost...............................................5/0
Letterwinners Returning/Lost................................... 9/2
Newcomers............................................................................3
BASKETBALL HISTORY
STARTERS RETURNING
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.................................................... 525-599
NCAA Tournament Appearances/Last......Four/2011
.....................................................................................................
At one of her most successful stops as an assistant,
Abrahamson-Henderson helped Iowa State (199400) clinch four-consecutive NCAA appearances,
including runs to the 1999 Elite Eight and 2000 Sweet
16. The Cyclones won the Big 12 regular season and
tournament title in 2000 and saw two of their own
selected in the WNBA Draft that year.
ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS
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.
Asst. to Recruiting Coordinator/Video Director...Ebone Henry
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.
G: Zykira Lewis (14.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 34.6 mpg)
G: Aliyah Gergory (10.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 30.0 mpg)
G: Ashley Polacek (6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.9 apg)
F: Nyala Shuler (4.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 23.5 mpg)
F: Joslyn Massey (8.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, .495 fg%)
Associate Director/WBB Contact....Megan Herboth
Office Phone.......................................... (407) 823-0994
Email................................. [email protected]
Mailing Address.......................................PO Box 163555
................................................................ Orlando, FL 32816
Overnight Address......... 4000 Central Florida Blvd.
.................Wayne Densch Sports Center, Building 39
................................................................ Orlando, FL 32816
Website................................................... UCFKnights.com
Twitter............................................................. @UCF_WBB
Facebook............................... UCF Women’s Basketball
Instagram................................................................. ucf.wbb
Coach Abe has two decades of experience on the
Division I level. She guided Missouri State’s program
to three Missouri Valley Conference tournament
championships, two MVC regular-season titles and
three NCAA berths. The Bears, who also won the
2005 WNIT championship, posted a 95-61 record
during her five seasons.
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.
2016-17 ROSTER
No. Name
1 Christian Hithe 2 Korneila Wright
4 Ashley Polacek
5 Ciara Thompson
11 Kayla Thigpen
12 Nyala Shuler
13 Kayla Thomas
21 Joslyn Massey 22 Aliyah Gregory
23 Zykira Lewis
24 Fifi Ndour
25 Tolulope Omokore
33 Jamesha Paul
Pos.
5-9
5-7
5-5
6-0
5-8
6-0
6-5
6-0
5-10
5-8
6-1
5-11
5-8
Ht.
G
G
G
G
G
F
C
F
G
G
F
F
G
Cl.
FR
FR
SO
FR
SO
RS SO
RS FR
RS SR
JR
SR
JR
SO
SO
Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Columbia, S.C/Spring Valley HS
Orlando, Fla./Jones HS
Ottawa, Canada/SPIRE Academy (Ohio)
Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS
West Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Lakes HS
Orlando, Fla./Edgewater HS
Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter HS
Detroit, Mich./John Glenn HS
Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest HS
Bartow, Fla./Bartow HS
Dakar, Senegal/Montverde Academy
Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt HS
Pompano Beach, Fla./Dillard HS
COACHING STAFF
Head Coach: Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (Iowa, 1990; Duquesne, 1992) - first season
Assistant Coach: Tahnee Balerio (Missouri State, 2008)
Assistant Coach: Isoken Uzamere (Hofstra)
Assistant Coach: Nykesha Sales (UConn, 1998)
PRESEASON NOTES
NEW ERA
• Katie Abrahamson-Henderson has helped three different teams
reach the NCAA Tournament and five programs reach postseason
play during her 26-year coaching career.
• Tahnee Balerio, who spent all six years at Albany creating a dynasty
with Coach Abe, will serve as UCF’s recruiting coordinator, oversee
scouting reports and will be responsible for the development of the
guards.
• Isoken Uzamere worked for four years at Albany and will focus on
the post players as well as compliance. She will also have a hand in the
team’s strength and conditioning, nutrition and weight room regimen.
• Eight-time WNBA All-Star Nykesha Sales signed on to the staff
for her first coaching position in Division I. Sales is a former national
champion and All-American for UConn and still ranks among the
Huskies’ top five career scorers in school history.
• Including UCF’s director of basketball operations (Stephanie Follett)
and assistant to recruiting coordinator/video director (Ebone Henry),
three of Abrahamson-Henderson’s staff members played for her as
collegians.
rebounding and field goal percentage and owned a team-best five
double-doubles.
POLACEK IT OUT
• In June, Ashley Polacek wowed the Internet with a video of a
dribbling drill that she posted on her personal Instagram account.
• It was picked up by Bleacher Report, Whistle Sports and Basketball
Vines, and over the span of a week, tallied more than 12 million views.
• Her account followers skyrocketed. In less than a week, she went
from having 980 Instagram followers to 23,700.
BOARD ROOM
• UCF ranked 21st in the country last season for rebounds per game
(42.7).
• UCF outrebounded its opponents in all but seven matchups last year.
• Three Knights ranked among The American’s top 15 rebounders in
conference-only games: Fifi Ndour (6.9 rpg); Joslyn Massey (6.7 rpg)
and Nyala Shuler (6.6 rpg).
• UCF boasted two particularly noteworthy performances in 2016 -The Knights produced their best single-game rebound performance
in five years (62 vs. Cincinnati; 1/2), and Tolulope Omokore tied the
HOMEGROWN TALENT
eighth-best single-game rebounding performance in UCF history (20
• UCF’s roster features three from the Central Florida area.
• Redshirt sophomore Nyala Shuler -- a three-time state champion at vs. SMU, 2/20).
Edgewater -- was only one of two Knights to appear in all 30 games
last year and averaged 4.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 23.5 ZYKIRA LEWIS
#OnZyre
minutes per game.
• Freshman Korneila “Kay Kay” Wright of local Jones High School was
a ESPN four-star recruit and ranked 61st overall in her class (17th in Entering 2016-17
her position). She was a two-time Florida Association of Basketball • The American’s third-leading
returning scorer from a year
Coaches All-State First Team honoree.
• Fellow rookie Ciara Thompson of West Orange High School is an ago (14.2 ppg)
ESPN three-star wing and ranked among the top 20 in her position. • Scattered throughout UCF’s
She was named to the Orlando Sentinel’s 2016 All-Metro Conference record book: #2 for career
3-pointers (191); #5 for career
First Team.
points (1,356); #6 for career
field goals (497); and #8 for
FIVE STRONG
• The Knights are the only team in the American Athletic Conference career steals (156)
• Needs 23 treys to claim the
to return all five of their starters from a year ago.
• Leading the way is senior Zykira Lewis, who joined the program’s top UCF school record outright for
career 3-pointers
five all-time career scorers last season.
• Junior Aliyah Gregory came alive during conference play in 2016, • The 21st 1,000-point scorer in
UCF history
averaging 12.1 points vs. her 5.4 ppg in non-conference action.
• Point guard Ashley Polacek was The American’s leading rookie for • Looks for her third-straight
season of ranking among UCF’s
assists (2.9).
• Nyala Shuler worked her way into the starting lineup after missing single-season 3-pointers top 10.
Owns the record at 86 (2015)
most of her rookie season due to a foot injury.
• Joslyn Massey ranked among top 10 in the conference for both