Gators Return Home to Host Arkansas on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Saturday, February 16, 2008 | Women's Basketball
After a tough two-game road trip, the Florida women's basketball team returns to the O'Connell Center, where the Gators play host to Arkansas on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m.
Game Day Gator Tales
It's hard to believe that only four games remain on Florida's regular-season schedule, so Sunday's contest against Arkansas becomes all the more important with teams jockeying for SEC Tournament seedings and postseason possibilities.
Both teams will be aiming to snap their respective trends, as Florida enters Sunday's game on a two-game losing streak, having lost four of its last six games. Arkansas is riding a three-game spill and has dropped five of its last seven decisions.
Rested and Ready
Arkansas is coming off a mid-week bye, last taking the court on February 10th against Auburn. Florida's last bye came prior to its January 21st meeting versus Arkansas... and will take its second bye following Sunday's game.
Two-Timers
Sunday's game is the second of two meetings this season against Arkansas, with Florida earning the 92-74 victory in Fayetteville on January 20th.
And Down the Stretch They Come...
Florida finished the first-half of its 14-game SEC schedule with a 3-4 record and got its second-half off to a great start, defeating Auburn, 73-67, but lost to Mississippi State in its next game and followed that with a loss at Georgia.
The Gators' FOUR remaining SEC games are against: Arkansas (home), South Carolina (home), Tennessee (away) and Ole Miss (away).
Familiarity in Fayetteville
Florida assistant coach Susie Gardner was the Arkansas head coach for four seasons prior to her arrival in Gainesville in April of 2007. While in Fayetteville, Gardner posted a 64-54 record, including an 18-13 mark last year. Gardner was 3-1 against Florida during her tenure at Arkansas, with two of those wins coming in Gainesville.
The Florida-Arkansas Series
Florida leads the overall series against Arkansas, 15-6, including the 92-74 victory in Fayetteville on January 20th, that snapped a two-game slide against the Lady Razorbacks.
Arkansas claimed the last meeting in Gainesville, a 67-57 decision on Jan. 21, 2007, under the direction of then-head coach Susie Gardner, who now is an assistant with the Gators.
Pre-Season Picks
The SEC coaches selected Florida to finish 11th in the 12-team league standings during the preseason vote, while Arkansas was picked to place ninth.
The media poll was identical to the coaches' poll, with one change: picking the Gators to finish 10th and South Carolina to place 11th.
Dotson Joins Brooks in 1,000-Point Club
With 6:24 remaining in the game against Mississippi State (Feb. 10), junior Marshae Dotson eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for her career, becoming the 20th Gator to reach the scoring milestone. Fellow classmate Sha Brooks topped the mark during the December 22 game against Saint Louis.
The last time the Gators took the court featuring two 1,000-point scorers was during the 1999-2000 season, when three players all topped the milestone: Tiffany Travis, Tonya Washington and Tamara Stocks … and all three eclipsed the mark during that same season.
Who's Hot?
In UF's last THREE games, Jennifer Mossor is contributing 15.3 points per game, hitting 7-of-16 from three-point arc and 17-of-36 overall. In the win against Auburn, the sophomore guard scored a team-high 17 points in the victory, before netting a career-high 20 points in Sunday's loss at Mississippi State. Her 20-point outburst topped her then season-high of 19 points, which she tallied in the win against Arkansas.
Sharielle Smith posted the first double-double of her career in UF's last game, contributing 14 points with 10 rebounds in the loss at Georgia (Feb. 14).
Home Sweet Home
Twelve of Florida's 15 wins this season have come within the friendly confines of the O'Connell Center. The Gators sport an 12-4 record this year in Gainesville, where they had won eight consecutive games before their January 24th loss to Georgia. The eight-game home win streak tied for the fifth-longest in program history.
SEC First Timers
Florida's Amanda Butler is one of five SEC coaches beginning their debut season in the league ... sort of.
Butler was a four-year starter for the Gators (1990-94) and was an assistant coach at UF for two seasons (1995-97).
Arkansas' Tom Collen returns to the Lady Razorbacks and Fayetteville, where he was an assistant coach for four seasons.
Kentucky's Matthew Mitchell was an assistant coach at Tennessee, Florida (2000-03) and Kentucky, prior to his return to Lexington.
LSU's Van Chancellor spent 19 years as Ole Miss' head coach before moving on to a 10-year career with the WNBA's Houston Comets.
Ole Miss' Renee Ladner is in her first true season as a collegiate head coach, yet anything but a newcomer to the SEC, as she played four years with the Lady Rebels, was an assistant coach at Florida for two years (2000-02) and an assistant coach at Ole Miss for three seasons.
Back in Focus
Florida is hitting 81.6 percent (71-87) of its free throws over the last FOUR games, a welcomed relief after struggling with a 63.2-percent mark in its first six SEC games. That sub-par effort included UF's two-point loss at Kentucky (Jan. 10) where the Gators were just 13-of-20 from the line and the 10-point setback to Vanderbilt (Jan. 31), when UF missed 11 free throws, hitting 14-of-25.
During the non-conference portion of their scheduled, the Gators shot a steady 71.5 percent from the free throw line, ranking among the league leaders from the charity stripe.
Boarding School
Marshae Dotson leads Florida's rebound brigade, collecting 8.6 overall and 8.4 in SEC games. The 5-foot-11 forward is the SEC's fifth-leading rebounder for conference games, while ranking sixth in all games.
As a team, Florida has won the rebounding battle in 16 of its 25 games this season, including in two of its last four games against significantly taller teams (LSU and Auburn).
Last year, the Gators won the rebounding battle just 10 times.
Game Day Information
What: Game 26: Florida (15-10, 4-6 SEC) hosts Arkansas (17-7, 2-7 SEC)
When: Sunday, February 17, 2008 * 2 p.m., ET
Where: Gainesville, Fla. * Stephen C. O'Connell Center (12,000)
Radio: LIVE on WRUF AM850 in Gainesville - audio simulcast on Cox Channel 96 with Steve Babik & Steve Russell
Internet Audio: LIVE thru GatorZone.com (FREE of charge)
GatorVision Online: delayed next day per SEC television contractual agreements
Television: none
Post-Game Satellite Feed: Feb. 17: Time: 5:15-5:30 pm ET
KU Band Digital Feed - Galaxy 11, Transponder 24K, Slot D.
Downlink Freq.: 12193.5 Vertical ..... Symbol Rate: 3.9787
Data Rate: 5.5 ... FEC: 3/4 .....Trouble #: 352-392-8043
O'Connell Center Press Row: 352-367-1801
Tickets: Reserved Seating - $5.00; General Admission - $4 Adults & $2 youth age 17 & under; UF Students are FREE
END OF REPORT
