Knights enter offseason ready to build off team’s historic year

STORRS, Conn. — As the final buzzer sounded and UCF women’s basketball walked off the court late Monday inside Gampel Pavilion, the college careers of Masseny Kaba and Tay Sanders came to end.

The two fifth-year seniors helped the Knights reach new heights. UCF had never won an American Athletic Conference regular-season title, conference tournament championship or a game in the NCAA tournament until this year.

The historic season came to a close when No. 2 seed UConn survived a late-push from the 7th-seeded Knights to win 52-47. It was the fewest points the Huskies had scored in a NCAA tournament win in program history, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

UCF coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson reminds her team often of how far it has come in a short time.

“I always tell my team, ‘This team was really special, really special,’ ” she said. “And they did some amazing things. And I mean we got a 7 seed, too. That was the highest in school history.”

Sanders scored 10 points, going 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, while Kaba (5 points, 4 rebounds) was limited by foul trouble.

“We wanted this game so bad. But you know what? Everything happens for a reason,” Sanders said. “And I believe they can get it next year. I love these girls. I love Coach Abe.”

UCF will be returning senior guard Diamond Battles, who’ll use an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s going to really help having Diamond back next year,” Abrahamson-Henderson said.

The AAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year is ready to take on an even larger leadership role and help UCF return to the Big Dance.

“I have big shoes to fill with Tay and Mass leaving,” Battles said. “It’s going to be tough. I’ve got to get my teammates ready. The next year is always about going further than what you did last year.

“We’ll want to make history and go further.”

Senior forward Brittney Smith still has a decision to make. The Orlando Boone product could return for her fifth season or declare for the WNBA.

Smith, voted Sixth Player of the Year in the AAC, scored a career-high 26 points in UCF’s first round matchup vs. the Florida Gators.

The Knights have others returning alongside Battles, including junior guards Alisha Lewis and Ahna Burney and junior forward Destiny Thomas.

UCF (26-4) has four incoming freshmen who signed in November, including Fatima Diakhaté, Amiya Evans, Savannah Henderson and Stefanie Ingram, a two-time state champ from Lake Highland Prep.

Henderson, a 4-star recruit per ESPN, is the daughter of the Knights’ coach. Evans is a 4-star recruit as well, while Diakhaté is the tallest player in Abrahamson-Henderson’s UCF tenure at 6-foot-5.

“We’ve got a lot of people in that locker room that are going to be really hungry and ready to go,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “We signed some really good players, too, coming in. And we’ve got some really good bigs coming in.”

And there’s always the NCAA transfer portal.

“We’re going to kind of wait on the portal a little bit, maybe get some good transfers and hopefully they watched,” the UCF coach said.

As her time comes to an end, Sanders hopes what she and the Knights accomplished has a long-term impact.

“I hope the recruits see that we’re nothing to play with,” Sanders said. “We’re going to fight to the end.”