Travels to No. 3 Tennessee for Thursday Road Game
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team plays its final two regular-season games on the road, with the first stop in Knoxville, Tenn., where the Gators face the third-ranked Lady Vols on Thursday, Feb. 28 in Thompson-Boling Arena with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Gators then head to Oxford to face Ole Miss on Sunday in the regular-season finale. The SEC Tournament begins on Thur., March 6 in Nashville, Tenn.
Florida aims to regroup this week following Sunday's disappointing 69-65 home loss to South Carolina, during which the Gators missed 12 free throws (19-31) and shot just 4-of-19 (21.1%) from beyond the 3-point arc.
And Down the Stretch They Come...
Entering the final week of regular-season play, only two of the 12 seeds for the SEC Tournament have been solidified: Vanderbilt has locked up the No. 3 seed and Alabama is the No. 12 seed. After that, the other 10 teams continue jockeying for higher SEC Tournament seedings and postseason possibilities.
SEC Tournament Seeding Scenarios
Florida can finish as high as the No. 6 seed (by defeating Tennessee and Ole Miss AND Auburn losing to either Vanderbilt or Arkansas) ... or as low as the No. 10 seed (by losing to Tennessee and to Ole Miss AND South Carolina defeats Georgia and Kentucky).
Tennessee will be either the No. 1 seed (by defeating Florida and Georgia AND with LSU losing to Arkansas and Mississippi State) or the No. 2 seed (if any of the above does not occur).
Gators vs. Lady Vols
While Tennessee has owned the 37-game series versus the Gators (35-2), three of the last four contests have been decided by single digits, with two of those needing overtime. Florida captured the 95-93 thriller on Feb. 26, 2006 in Knoxville, earning its first-ever win in Thompson-Boling in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Pre-Season Picks
The SEC coaches selected Florida to finish 11th in the 12-team league standings during the preseason vote, while Tennessee was picked to win the regular-season title.
The media poll was identical to the coaches' poll, with one change: picking the Gators to finish 10th and South Carolina to place 11th.
Tennessee Ties
Four different Gator student-athletes, as well as head coach Amanda Butler and assistant coach Susie Gardner are natives of the Volunteer State. Butler and Gardner hail from Mt. Juliet, located approximately 145 miles from Knoxville.
Juniors Sha Brooks (Jackson) and Kim Critton (Memphis) in addition to freshmen Kerri Simpson (Charleston) and Ndidi Madu (Antoich) also are from the nation's 16th state.
Tennessee Ties, Part 2
The two most recent starting point guards for Trinity Valley Community College will be suiting up in Thursday's game. Lonnika Thompson ran the offense for the Lady Cards during the 2006-07 season, her only year with the team before transferring to UF. Tennessee's Shannon Bobbitt played the previous two years at TVCC, before joining the Lady Vols for the 2006-07 campaign. Obviously, Thompson and Bobbitt were never teammates at the school in Athens, Texas.
Usually Tough When it's Tight
Florida holds an 8-3 record this season in games decided by six points or less, including the 75-73 win on Feb. 17 win against Arkansas and the 69-65 loss to South Carolina on Feb. 24th.
Team Ties, Part 3
One additional connection between Florida and Tennessee... on Feb. 11, 2001, the Gators played host to the Lady Vols in front of a sold out crowd of 12,222 fans in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. That attendance total remains as the largest crowd ever to watch a women's college basketball game anywhere in the state of Florida. With the St. Pete Times Forum hosting the 2008 Final Four, that record is sure to fall, as the 21,497-seat facility is already sold out for the event!
What's Next For Bowden?
Depree Bowden, the lone senior on the 2007-08 Gator squad, will graduate on May 3, 2008, with a bachelor's degree in Criminology and plans to attend graduate school.
Three Straight Senior Day Celebrations
The Gators honored their lone senior, Depree Bowden, prior to their February 24th game against South Carolina. UF's contest on Feb. 28 in Knoxville against Tennessee will be the Lady Vols' final home game, while the March 2 game in Oxford versus Ole Miss will be the Lady Rebels' last home contest of the regular season.
Senior Spoilers
The last time the Gators played in Knoxville was on Feb. 26, 2006, when the Lady Vols were honoring their seniors, Shanna Zolman and Tye'sha Fluker.
It just so happened that Florida's senior quartet of Brittany Davis, Dalila Eshe, Sarah Lowe and Danielle Santos stole the spotlight, as they combined to score 80 of the Gator's 95 points in a stunning 95-93 overtime win, becoming only the second unranked team to defeat UT at home. The only other Gator who scored in that game was current junior Sha Brooks (then a freshman), who tallied a then-career-high 25 points.
Brittany Davis, who scored a career-high of 29 points in that victory, is serving as the Gator's radio color analyst for Thursday's game in Knoxville.
Senior Spoilers, Part 2
Tennessee spoiled Arkansas' Senior Day game last season, but were pushed to overtime to avoid the upset, prevailing 75-68 on Feb. 22, 2007. Arkansas' head coach in that game was current UF assistant coach Susie Gardner.
In Case You Were Wondering...
Among the players Tennessee is honoring during its final home game on Thursday is All-World Candace Parker, who has made the decision to forgo her fourth season of eligibility and pursue a professional basketball career. DID YOU KNOW... that the first women's player ever to 'leave early' for the WNBA was Florida's Tonya Washington, who earned her degree in four years while playing just three, giving her the option of retaining a fourth year of college eligibility after having sat out as a freshman. On April 25, 2000, Washington became the 18th overall selection in the 2000 WNBA draft, picked by the Washington Mystics as the second selection in the second round.
Stop That Streak!
The Gators have lost 13 consecutive games to ranked teams (including three in 2007-08), posting an 0-9 record during the 2006-07 season and dropping the last game they played versus a ranked foe in 2005-06. Florida's last win over a ranked team was the 95-93 overtime thriller in Knoxville against No. 5 Tennessee on Feb. 26, 2006.
We Thought We Were Back in Focus
Florida entered its Feb. 24th game against South Carolina hitting 81.1 percent (77-95) of its free throws in its previous FIVE games. The Gators, however, faltered from the line against the Gamecocks, missing 12 from the charity stripe (19-31) in the four-point loss.
Florida began the conference slate 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.
Who's Hot?
In UF's last FIVE games, Jennifer Mossor is contributing a team-best 14.2 points per game, hitting 10-of-25 (40.0%) from three-point arc and 27-of-59 (45.8%) overall. In the Feb. 7 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. Mossor then equalled that scoring outburst with a game-leading 20 points against Arkansas on February 17th.
In Florida's last SIX games, Sha Brooks has converted 24-of-26 free throws (92.3%), including her 2-of-2 effort with 1.2 seconds remaining in the thrilling 75-73 victory over Arkansas on February 17.
Game Day Information
What: Florida (16-11, 5-7 SEC) at Tennessee (25-2, 11-1 SEC)
When: Thursday, February 28, 2008 * 7 p.m., ET
Where: Knoxville, Tenn. * Thompson-Boling Arena (24,535)
Radio: LIVE on WRUF-AM850 in Gainesville - audio simulcast on Cox Channel 96 with Steve Babik & Brittany Davis
Internet Audio: LIVE thru GatorZone.com (FREE of charge)
GatorVision Online: none
Television: none
Post-Game Satellite Feed: 9:45 p.m.-10 p.m. ET
Horizons 2, Transponder 2 (K - 2)
Downlink Frequency: 11760 H ... Audio: 6.2 & 6.8
Trouble# 865-974-2680
END OF REPORT
