The new-look UCF women’s basketball team is about to find out what first-year coach Gabe Lazo means when he says there will be no drifting through practice.
If a player starts strolling instead of sprinting, Lazo notices.
“You can’t walk in practice. We don’t do no walking around in practice. If a coach sees you walking in practice, you’re going to be held accountable,” Lazo said recently.
That kind of edge is exactly what Lazo is trying to bring to UCF as he takes over his first head-coaching job. He wants the Knights to play fast, defend with force and make every possession feel like a fight.
“We want to be the hardest-playing team on the floor, every time we’re on the floor,” said Lazo. “We want to be able to defend at a high level.
We want to rebound. We want to sprint to spots.
We want to play with great pace. We want to be the toughest team on the floor.”
Lazo, 41, was hired in April and became the first Hispanic coach to lead a Power Four program.
The program he inherits has talent to rebuild around, but the results have slipped. UCF has not posted a winning season since 2021-22 and has not finished better than 12th in the Big 12 since joining the league in 2023. Last season’s 11-19 finish was the worst record in a decade.
Lazo’s first major move was putting together his staff, and that led him back to a familiar name: former UCF coach Lynn Bria.
“She was a head coach. She’s had a lot of success, but it’s just the experience that she brings,” said Lazo.
“When there are moments where I’m like, ‘Lynn, where do we go from here?’ I have her comfort and the knowledge she brings.
It means the world to me.”
From there, the roster overhaul began. UCF returns just three players from last season: starting center Mahogany Chandler-Roberts, reserve forward Jasmynne Gibson and reserve guard Felcia Schõlander.
Chandler-Roberts started 29 games and averaged 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds in 28 minutes per game. Gibson played in 19 games and averaged 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds. Schõlander appeared in 11 games and averaged 1 point.
The rest of the roster has been rebuilt through the transfer portal and the freshman class. The Knights added seven transfers: guards Key Roseby from Stephen F. Austin, Kya Hurt from Illinois State, Caitlyn Jones from Wake Forest, Nyla McFadden from Penn State, Vittoria Blasigh from Miami and Mikayla Johnson from Pittsburgh, plus center Candace Kpetikou from Miami.
UCF also signed three freshmen: guards Maria Cintas of Spain and Jabria Lindsey of Alabama, along with forward Salomè Boyomo Keedi of France.
With so many new players, Lazo says the work has been less about drawing up plays and more about building trust and daily standards.
“You have to build relationships. You have to spend time with the young women on your team.
You’ve got to be on the same page with your staff in order to help develop a team,” Lazo said. “How do you get to know somebody?
It ain’t rocket science. It’s spending time with one another.”
For him, the biggest test is not just teaching schemes. It’s getting a group of unfamiliar players to form habits that stick.
“The biggest challenge by far is creating habits,” he said. “Building a culture becomes a challenge because you have so many new pieces that already come in with habits and then you’re trying to change behavior, and you’re trying to lay a foundation.”
UCF opens the season Tuesday by hosting Florida A&M at Addition Financial Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
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