Thursday, November 5
Gainesville, Fla.
4:30 p.m.
Florida Gators
vs
Central Florida
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | Women's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida women's basketball team looks to improve to 2-0 in the Tammi Reiss era Thursday as the Gators host Central Florida at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game is part of a double-header with the Florida men's team which hosts Jacksonville at 8 p.m. Fans attending the women's game who are interested in attending the men's game may so do by purchasing tickets at FloridaGators.com.
Coach Reiss picked up her first win as Florida's head coach Monday in an 83-60 victory over visiting Bucknell. Junior Kiyomi McMiller led all scorers with 31 points, and set a program record for most points in a Gators debut in the process. Sophomore Vanessa Harris added a career-high 26 points in the victory.
Should Florida win Thursday, Reiss would become just the sixth head coach in program history to start a season 2-0. Carol Ross (1990-2001) and Carolyn Peck (2002-07) each won their first three games at the helm, and Debbie Yow ran off nine consecutive victories to begin her Gators coaching career.
McMiller could also make Florida history Thursday if she reaches the 30-point plateau again, as she would become just the fifth member of the Gators to record back-to-back 30-point games.
Central Florida enters Thursday's game with a 1-0 record following an 85-56 win over Florida A&M Tuesday. The Knights led 23-11 after the first quarter and never looked back as junior guard Key Roseby led five players in double-digit scoring with 22 points thanks to six of eight shooting from beyond the arc. UCF limited the Rattlers to 27.6 percent shooting from the field and 23.5 percent from distance.
The Knights have a revamped roster in 2026-27 as their four leading scorers Tuesday played for other programs a year ago. Roseby came to UCF from Stephen F. Austin, while redshirt senior Mikayla Johnson (13 points) transferred from Pitt, sophomore Caitlyn Jones (13) relocated from Wake Forest, and redshirt junior Candace Kpetikou (12) arrived from Miami.
Central Florida is led by Gabe Lazo who became the 14th head coach in Knights program history in April of 2026. This is the Miami native's first head coaching position, but he has previously worked on the staffs at Tennessee, Mississippi State, George Washington, Stony Brook and Florida International.
From 1978 through 2004, Florida and Central Florida played against one another almost every season, but they have met just three times since the 2004-05 campaign. Florida dominated the majority of the series winning the first 26 games between the teams, including 23 by double figures. Central Florida finally broke into the win column in the most recent match up — a 69-52 victory over the Gators in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
CENTRAL FLORIDA (1-0)
A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …
TALE OF THE TAPE
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
GATOR BITES
PROJECTED CENTRAL FLORIDA STARTERS
CENTRAL FLORIDA QUICK HITS
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Coach Reiss picked up her first win as Florida's head coach Monday in an 83-60 victory over visiting Bucknell. Junior Kiyomi McMiller led all scorers with 31 points, and set a program record for most points in a Gators debut in the process. Sophomore Vanessa Harris added a career-high 26 points in the victory.
Should Florida win Thursday, Reiss would become just the sixth head coach in program history to start a season 2-0. Carol Ross (1990-2001) and Carolyn Peck (2002-07) each won their first three games at the helm, and Debbie Yow ran off nine consecutive victories to begin her Gators coaching career.
McMiller could also make Florida history Thursday if she reaches the 30-point plateau again, as she would become just the fifth member of the Gators to record back-to-back 30-point games.
Central Florida enters Thursday's game with a 1-0 record following an 85-56 win over Florida A&M Tuesday. The Knights led 23-11 after the first quarter and never looked back as junior guard Key Roseby led five players in double-digit scoring with 22 points thanks to six of eight shooting from beyond the arc. UCF limited the Rattlers to 27.6 percent shooting from the field and 23.5 percent from distance.
The Knights have a revamped roster in 2026-27 as their four leading scorers Tuesday played for other programs a year ago. Roseby came to UCF from Stephen F. Austin, while redshirt senior Mikayla Johnson (13 points) transferred from Pitt, sophomore Caitlyn Jones (13) relocated from Wake Forest, and redshirt junior Candace Kpetikou (12) arrived from Miami.
Central Florida is led by Gabe Lazo who became the 14th head coach in Knights program history in April of 2026. This is the Miami native's first head coaching position, but he has previously worked on the staffs at Tennessee, Mississippi State, George Washington, Stony Brook and Florida International.
From 1978 through 2004, Florida and Central Florida played against one another almost every season, but they have met just three times since the 2004-05 campaign. Florida dominated the majority of the series winning the first 26 games between the teams, including 23 by double figures. Central Florida finally broke into the win column in the most recent match up — a 69-52 victory over the Gators in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
CENTRAL FLORIDA (1-0)
- Date: Thursday, Nov. 5
- Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Site: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center
- Listen: Gators+
- Watch: SECN+
- Live stats: StatBroadcast
A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …
- Improve the Gators' record to 2-0 on the season.
- Improve Florida's record to 2-0 at home this season.
- Improve Tammi Reiss' record as Florida head coach to 2-0, making her just the sixth coach in program history to win their first two games at the helm.
- Improve the Gators' record to 27-1 vs. UCF.
- Be Florida third consecutive home win overall, and third straight home win over a non-conference opponent.
TALE OF THE TAPE
| Florida | UCF | |
| 83.0 | PPG | 85.0 |
| 60.0 | OPP PPG | 56.0 |
| +23.0 | SCORING MARGIN | +29.0 |
| 54.8 | FG % | 49.2 |
| 37.3 | OPP FG% | 27.6 |
| 26.3 | 3 FG% | 39.1 |
| 38.9 | OPP 3 FG% | 23.5 |
| 5.0 | 3FG/G | 9.0 |
| 71.4 | FT % | 53.8 |
| 42.0 | REBOUNDS/G | 50.0 |
| 26.0 | OPP REBOUNDS/G | 33.9 |
| +16.0 | REB MARGIN | +18.0 |
| 10.0 | ASSISTS/G | 19.0 |
| 13.0 | TURNOVER/G | 21.0 |
| +0.77 | A/TO RATIO | +0.90 |
| 7.00 | STEALS/G | 14.00 |
| 0.00 | BLOCKS/G | 7.00 |
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown/Previous School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moriah Murray | 3 | 5-9 | G | R-Sr. | Dunmore, Pa. |
| Jordan Jones | 4 | 5-11 | G | Sr. | Sylmar, Calif, |
| Vivian Iwuchukwu | 22 | 6-3 | G | Jr. | Imo State Nigeria |
| Vanessa Harris | 23 | 5-10 | G | So. | Glenarden, Md. |
| Kiyomi McMiller | 32 | 5-9 | G | Jr. | Silver Springs, Md. |
GATOR BITES
- For the first time since the initial poll of the 2022-23 campaign, the Florida Gators are receiving votes in the USA Today poll. They received the 38th most votes of any team in the nation.
- Florida has just one player returning from the 2025-26 roster, senior Jade Weathersby. Weathersby was fifth on the team in scoring last season, and third in rebounding and three-point field goal percentage.
- Kiyomi McMiller enjoyed an All-Big Ten season at Penn State last year when she finished 12th in the nation in scoring. She was also one of only five players in the country to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and four assists on the season. She is averaging 31.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 2026-27, and was named to the preseason All-SEC Second Team by conference coaches.
- The Gators have a pair of career, 1,000-point scorers on their roster in Jordan Jones (1,196) and Kiyomi McMiller (1,051). They could have two more by season's end in Jade Weathersby (771) and Moriah Murray (704).
- Although Jade Weathersby is the lone player to return from the 2025-26 squad, she isn't the only player with SEC experience. Taliyah Parker played for the Texas A&M Aggies during the 2024-25 season where she averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman.
- Should Florida win Thursday, Reiss would become just the sixth head coach in program history to start a season 2-0. Debbie Yow ran off nine consecutive victories to begin her Gators coaching career to set the program benchmark.
- McMiller could also make Florida history Thursday if she reaches the 30-point plateau again, as she would become just the fifth member of the Gators to record back-to-back 30-point games.
- Florida has 12 games this season against ranked opponents, or opponents who are receiving votes, in the most recent Associated Press and USA Today polls.
- SEC media members picked the Gators to finish 12th in the league, while SEC coaches tabbed Florida to finish 11th.
PROJECTED CENTRAL FLORIDA STARTERS
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown/Previous School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key Roseby | 0 | 6-0 | G | Jr. | Dallas, Texas / Stephen F. Austin |
| Candace Kpetikou | 3 | 6-3 | C | R-Jr. | Niamey, Niger / Washington State, Miami |
| Caitlyn Jones | 5 | 5-8 | G | So. | Wake Forest, N.C. / Wake Forest |
| Vittoria Blasigh | 10 | 5-9 | G | Sr. | Udine, Italy / South Florida, Miami |
| Mahogany Chandler-Roberts | 33 | 6-2 | F | Jr. | Portland, Ore. / North Florida |
CENTRAL FLORIDA QUICK HITS
- Knights Head Coach Gabe Lazo is in his first year with the program, and first as a head coach after spending time on the staffs at Tennessee, Mississippi State, George Washington, Stony Brook and Florida International.
- Four of UCF's leading scorers Tuesday played for other programs a year ago. Key Roseby (22 points) came to UCF from Stephen F. Austin, while redshirt senior Mikayla Johnson (13) transferred from Pitt, sophomore Caitlyn Jones (13) relocated from Wake Forest, and redshirt junior Candace Kpetikou (12) arrived from Miami.
- The Knights shot 25.8 percent from three last season, ranking them 340th nationally. They connected on 39.1 percent from distance in their season-opening win over Florida A&M.
- The Knights roster boasts five international student-athletes in Maria Cintas (Spain), Salome Boyomo Keedi (France), Candace Kpetikou (Niger), Felicia Scholander (Sweden) and Vittoria Blasigh (Italy).
- Seven of UCF's first eight games are at home this season. The lone exception is Thursday's game vs. Florida.
- UCF was picked to finish 16th in the Big 12 in the 2026-27 preseason media poll.
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