Women's Hoops Begins Road Trip on Sunday at Mississippi State
Saturday, February 9, 2008 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team begins a two-game road trip on Sunday, traveling to Starkville, Miss., to play Mississippi State in a televised contest. FSN South, FSN Southwest and Sun Sports (COX cable channel 48 in Gainesville) will broadcast the game, with tip-off from Humphrey Coliseum scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT).
Florida enters the game riding the momentum of Thursday's hard-fought 73-67 victory over Auburn, against whom Jennifer Mossor, Sha Brooks and Marshae Dotson all tallied a double-figure scoring effort to lead a second-half surge that carried the Gators to the win. Mossor poured in 13 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, when Dotson tallied all of her 11 points and six of her seven rebounds. Brooks added another well-rounded performance, with 16 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Following Sunday's game, Florida heads to Athens to face No. 24 Georgia. The Valentine's Day-affair with the Lady Bulldogs will be the second time this season the two teams will square off, as Florida dropped the 82-55 decision on January 24th to Georgia in the O'Connell Center.
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, to remain clumped in the middle of the 12-team conference standings.
The Gators have SIX league contests remaining, with games against Mississippi State (away), Georgia (away), Arkansas (home), South Carolina (home), Tennessee (away) and Ole Miss (away).
Dotson 3 Points Shy of 1,000
Junior Marshae Dotson is on-pace to become the 20th Gator to score 1,000 career points. Fellow classmate Sha Brooks topped the milestone during the December 22 game against Saint Louis.
Assuming she plays, Sunday's game will be the 85th of Dotson's career. Should she reach the 1,000-point plateau during the contest, Dotson would tie Tiffany Travis (1996-2000) and LaTonya McGhee (1989-93) as the 15th-fastest Gator to top the scoring mark.
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, Marshae Dotson is averaging 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds, while shooting an impressive 71.4 percent (15-21) from the free throw line. Sha Brooks has been a great floor general, directing the offense, while contributing 12.0 points and 4.0 assists, in addition to converting 17-of-20 (85%) from the free throw line during that span.
Team Ties
Gator assistant coach David Lowery is a native of the Magnolia State, graduating from MSU in 2000 with a degree in secondary education. The Kosciusko, Miss., native worked with the Lady Bulldogs' basketball team during his time in Starkville, first as a manager and practice player, before getting his debut collegiate coaching experience as a graduate assistant during the 2000-01 season.
“The Fry Daddy,” as he is affectionately called by the Gator coaching staff for his fish frying talents, is expected to have dozens of family and friends in attendance at Sunday's game.
TV Talent Ties
Carol Ross, who is providing the color commentary for Sunday's game, was the Gator's head coach for 12 years. When she resigned from UF following the 2001-02 season, Ross did so as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 247-121 record and nine NCAA Tournament appearances. Her debut season in Gainesville (1990-91) also was the freshman year for current head coach Amanda Butler. Following Butler's graduation, Ross hired her as an assistant coach for two seasons
Handling the other microphone is Bernie Guenther, who is a UF alumni and former Gator student-athlete, earning a spot on the swimming roster from 1999-2003.
Pre-Season Picks
The SEC coaches selected Florida to finish 11th in the 12-team league standings during the preseason vote, while Mississippi State was picked to place seventh.
The media poll was identical to the coaches' poll, with one change: picking the Gators to finish 10th and South Carolina to place 11th.
The Florida-Mississippi State Series
MSU holds a 17-16 advantage in the all-time series against Florida, so a Gator win on Sunday would even the 34-game series.
The Gators won the last meeting against the Lady Bulldogs, earning the thrilling 69-63 decision in the first round of the SEC Tournament. MSU claimed last year's regular-season game played in Gainesville, 79-74.
Florida also has won four of last five games against MSU, which includes the 63-48 decision the last time the teams met in Starkville (Feb. 9, 2006).
Scouting the Lady Bulldogs
After starting the first 22 games of the season, sophomore Alexis Rack came off the bench in MSU's game on Thursday against Tennessee and responded with a career-high 32 points, hitting 7-of-13 from the three-point arc, along with 5-of-5 from the free throw line and 10-of-18 overall from the floor. The 5-foot-7 guard has hit 65-of-188 for 34.6 percent and leads the SEC with 2.83 treys per game. This season, Rack is averaging a team-best 12.6 points per game.
Fellow sophomore Tysheka Grimes also contributes a double-figure scoring effort, tallying 11.3 per game along with a team-high 6.3 rebounds. Junior Marneshia Richard adds 9.1 points and dishes a team-leading 4.7 assists per game, while collecting 2.1 steals.
The Lady Bulldogs are 10-3 at home, where both of their SEC wins have come (Ole Miss & Alabama).
MSU leads the SEC in offensive rebounding, collecting 15.83 per game, while ranking second among conference schools in turnover margin (+4.43).
Boarding School
Marshae Dotson leads Florida's rebound brigade, collecting 8.9 overall and 9.1 in SEC games. The 5-foot-11 forward is the SEC's third-leading rebounder for conference games, while ranking fourth in all games.
As a team, Florida has won the rebounding battle in 16 of its 23 games this season, including its last two games against significantly taller teams (LSU and Auburn). Last year, the Gators won the rebounding battle just 10 times.
Back in Focus
Florida is hitting 85.1 percent (40-47) of its free throws over the last two 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.
Dotson's Doing it!
Marshae Dotson is the SEC's third-leading rebounder for league games, collecting 9.1 per outing, trailing only the 10.1 per game by South Carolina's Demetress Adams and the 9.1 by Auburn's DeWanna Bonner.
For good measure, Dotson ranks No. 5 in SEC games for scoring (16.0 ppg) and No. 3 for field goal percentage (57.1%) behind LSU's Sylvia Fowles and Tennessee's Candace Parker.
The “Big Three”
During the preseason, Florida's 'Big 3' were expected to produce big things ... and they have not disappointed. The trio of Depree Bowden, Marshae Dotson and Sha Brooks combined for 903 of UF's 1600 points (56.4%), 396 of 932 rebounds (42.5%), 160 of 312 assists (51.3%) and 130 of 220 steals (59.1%) this season.
Game Day Information
What: Game 24: Florida at Mississippi State
When: Sunday, February 10, 2008 * 2:30 p.m., ET (1:30 pm CT)
Where: Starkville, Miss. * Humphrey Coliseum (10,500)
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: none
Television: LIVE on SEC-TV (FSN South, FSN Southwest & Sun Sports) with Bernie Guenther & Carol Ross
Post-Game Satellite Feed: Feb. 10: Time: 6:30-6:45 pm, ET
KU Band/Analog - Galaxy 17, Transponder 12
Downlink Freq.: 11940.0000 Vertical ... Audio: 6.2 & 6.8
Trouble #: 662-325-4061
Humphrey Coliseum Press Row: 662-325-3776
END OF REPORT
