Photo Courtesy of UCF AA

The head coach and staff of UCF women’s basketball have worked for months to rebuild a program in need of redemption as it heads into the 2026-27 season.

Gabe Lazo, the first Latino Power 4 head coach, told reporters on Monday that they started by setting his standards of play and shaping the Knights into what he called a “blue-collar team.”

“We want to be the hardest-playing team on the floor every time,” Lazo said at Monday’s press conference. “The one thing you can always do is defend, play with great effort and that’s what we’re focusing on right now the most. Just playing with great pace.”

Sytia Messer previously led the program for four seasons and never posted a winning record. Messer finished her UCF tenure with an overall record of 49-69, going 11-19, 3-15 in Big 12 play, during the 2025-26 season.

Messer was fired on March 30 and UCF hired Lazo five days later.

Looking to redeem the program, Lazo highlighted the importance of surrounding support.

“As a first-time head coach at this level, you really are going to rely on the people who are around you,” Lazo said. “You win with people in life and I’m a big believer in that. That’s something that we try to instill in our young women.”

Lazo shared how he’s learned much not just about himself, but his team throughout the process. 

The Knights had their first outing under Lazo’s leadership in an exhibition matchup in Birmingham, Ala., where UCF fell to Auburn 65-59. Though not the outcome he wanted, Lazo said he’s still pleased with the Knights’ growth.

“We’ve grown tremendously in the last two weeks, from our scrimmage to our exhibition game over in Birmingham,” Lazo said. “So we’re proud of where we’re at, but we still have ways to go.”

With the task of rebuilding Knights women’s basketball, Lazo said the biggest challenge was creating habits. Having a brand new coaching staff to lead the charge involved figuring out their standards and what to implement.

“Without a doubt, building a culture becomes a challenge because you have so many new pieces that come in with habits and then you’re trying to change behavior, trying to lay a foundation,” Lazo said.

Lazo said his coaching philosophy has been accountability and consistency. He added that building those ideals, a culture, and a foundation is most important while focusing on the controllables. 

“I don’t care how many shots you make or you miss. But the response is huge,” Lazo said. “And that’s what this coach is going to be about. The next possession, you make a mistake [and] get back the next possession.”

UCF women’s basketball averaged 1,449 audience members per home game across 17 home matchups during the 2025-26 season, according to the UCF Knights Official Season Statistics, compared to an average of 6,829.9 crowd per home game for UCF men’s basketball, according to the UCF Athletics Official Statistics. 

Lazo said his pitch to the UCF community is to give the program a chance, a similar pitch he tells recruits.

“There’s opportunity here,” Lazo said. “The fan base has an opportunity to come in here and help build something. Give us a chance; that’s all we ask.”

UCF faces a six-week, 14-game journey before entering the Big 12 gauntlet on Sunday, Dec. 20. When asked if that’s enough time to mold the Knights to his liking, Lazo said fans will have to wait and see.

“Our schedule seems to be pretty challenging,” Lazo said, “I mean, we’re playing two Power 4 programs and we just played an SEC team on the road. So I’m excited; our young women [and] our staff are excited and hopefully it does prepare us. But at the end of the day, [it’s about] process and attacking each day with that mindset to get better.”

The Knights will play their last exhibition game against St. Leo at 1 p.m. Sunday at Addition Financial Arena, followed by the season home opener versus Florida A&M at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.