Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at UCF had their seasons come to a close in the Conference USA Championship quarterfinals in Tulsa this week.

Despite the ups and downs for the two programs over the course of 2009-10, there seems to be enough in place for a strong turnaround next season.

– Men’s Hoops –

On Thursday, the men’s team fell 76-54 to No. 21 UTEP as the Knights played most of the way without Marcus Jordan and P.J. Gaynor as Jordan rolled an ankle and Gaynor took a knee to the ribs.

Marcus Jordan (left) and Keith Clanton (Photo by Chris Schubert)

But by the time those injuries took place, though, the Miners already had complete control of the game as they eventually took a 28-point lead into the halftime break.

The Knights finished the season with a 15-17 overall mark and showed signs of good days to come with one of the youngest squads in the nation.

Jordan and Keith Clanton ended the year having been named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team. Clanton blocked 45 shots and averaged 9.7 points on 48-percent shooting from the field along with 6.8 rebounds per game. Jordan averaged eight points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and tallied 37 steals on the year.

Sophomore A.J. Rompza, who was named to the C-USA Freshman Team a year ago, finished the season with the fourth most steals in a single season at UCF with 81, and now ranks 10th all-time in that category with 127 swipes. Rompza’s 144 assists are the sixth most in a season for the program. He also averaged 8.6 points per game.

Sophomore Isaac Sosa now ranks No. 10 in school history with 130 career 3-pointers made. Sosa and A.J. Tyler led the knights in scoring this season with 10.3 points per game. Tyler also grabbed five rebounds per game.

UCF opened the C-USA tourney at Tulsa as the No. 9 seed and outshot No. 8 SMU, 69-53, in the opening round.

– Women’s Hoops –

On Tuesday, the eighth-seeded Lady Knights rallied from an 11-point deficit but couldn’t hold on to a three-point lead with a minute to go as they were turned away by top-seeded Tulane, 63-62.

Emma Cannon (left) and Chelsie Wiley (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

The loss ended UCF’s season with an 11-16 overall record, just one year removed from winning the conference title and playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Juniors Chelsie Wiley and Emma Cannon surpassed career milestones this season as they both eclipsed the 1,000-point mark. Cannon surpassed the mark in a loss against Notre Dame and has now compiled 1,154 points (5th all-time) and 903 rebounds (2nd all-time) in her career. Wiley became the program’s 13th 1,000-point scorer in February and now ranks No. 8 all-time on that list with 1,069 points.

Wiley (11.5 points per game), Marshay White (11.3) and Cannon (11) led the team in scoring this season. Cannon, a C-USA All-Conference Third Team selection, also averaged 10 rebounds per game and finished with 18 blocked shots.

Aisha Patrick grabbed 63 steals and averaged 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists on the year. D’Nay Daniels averaged 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds, while Angelica Mealing averaged 3.7 assists per game.

The Knights opened tournament play by defeating ninth-seeded Marshall in overtime, 59-57.