Gators Play at Ole Miss on Sunday in Regular-Season Finale
Saturday, March 1, 2008 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team travels to Oxford, Miss., to play Ole Miss on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Stop Those Streaks!
The Gators are aiming to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season, while collecting their third SEC road victory of the year. On the flip side, a rested Ole Miss squad is coming off a mid-week bye looking to win its third consecutive league game for the first time this season.
Florida has lost four its last five games, while Ole Miss has won three of its last four outings.
And Down the Stretch They Come...
Entering the final day of regular-season play, only six of the 12 seeds for the SEC Tournament have been solidified (see below), while the other half of the league continues to jockey for higher SEC Tournament seedings and postseason possibilities.
SEC Tournament Seeding Scenarios
Seedings solidified regardless of Sunday's games:
No. 1 LSU
No. 2 Tennessee
No. 3 Vanderbilt
No. 10 South Carolina
No. 11 Arkansas
No. 12 Alabama
No. 4 & No. 5
Either Kentucky or Georgia (UK holds tiebreak)
UK hosts USC on Sunday; UG hosts UT on Sunday
Florida is the No. 6 Seed if:
Florida beats Ole Miss AND Arkansas beats Auburn (game at Auburn)
(UF would play No. 11 Arkansas in Game 4 at 9 pm CT)
(winner plays No. 3 Vanderbilt on Friday at 9 pm CT)
Florida is the No. 7 Seed if:
Florida beats Ole Miss AND Auburn beats Arkansas
(UF would play No. 10 South Carolina in Game 2 at 2:30 pm CT)
(winner plays No. 2 Tennessee on Friday at 2:30 pm CT)
Florida is the No. 8 Seed if:
Florida loses to Ole Miss AND LSU beats MSU (game in Starkville)
(UF would play No. 9 Mississippi State in Game 1 at Noon, CT)
(winner plays No. 1 LSU on Friday at Noon CT)
Florida is the No. 9 Seed if:
Florida loses to Ole Miss AND Mississippi State beats LSU
(UF would play No. 8 Mississippi State in Game 1 at Noon, CT)
(winner plays No. 1 LSU on Friday at Noon CT)
Team Ties
UF's Amanda Butler and UM's Renee Ladner are two of the five new head coaches walking the sidelines with an SEC team this season, but the similarities between the two don't stop there!
Butler and Ladner are just two of 24 NCAA Division I women's basketball head coaches who have returned to their alma mater where they also played collegiate basketball.
Butler and Ladner both were hired by Carol Ross (a former UF and UM head coach) for their first collegiate coaching positions ... with both wearing the Orange & Blue in their inaugural assistant coaching jobs.
Butler was an assistant coach at UF from 1995-97, while Ladner worked with the Gators from 2000-02.
More Team Ties
Also on the Lady Rebels sideline includes former UF assistant coach Jocelyn McGilberry (1989-90), as well as Margie (Brinza) Gill, who began working with the Gators as a student manager in 1991 and continued through the 2002 season as the Administrative Assistant to Carol Ross, returned to Ross' side in December 2005 to work as Ole Miss' Director of Basketball Operations, while Amanda Butler was an assistant coach at UF.
Even More Team Ties
LaKendra Phillips began her collegiate career at Florida, before transferring in December of 2006 to Ole Miss. She was part of the Gator's signing class that included Sha Brooks, Kim Critton and Marshae Dotson. During her short time wearing the Orange & Blue, Phillips appeared in 12 games and averaged 9.0 minutes. She scored a Gator-career-high 10 points in the season-opener against North Florida (Nov. 10, 2006).
Gators vs. Lady Rebels
Florida holds a slim 13-12 lead in the series against Ole Miss, including the Lady Rebels' 72-64 victory last year in Gainesville.
Seven of the last nine games in the series have been decided by single digits, including each of the last two meetings, which both were eight-point outcomes.
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.
Starting at Guard ... again and again ...
If junior Sha Brooks is on the floor for the opening tip against Ole Miss, it will be her 90th career starting assignment and her 87th consecutive. Brooks has started every game except one during her career.
Pre-Season Picks
The SEC coaches selected Florida to finish 11th in the 12-team league standings during the preseason vote, while Ole Miss was picked to place ninth.
The media poll was very similar to the coaches' poll, with two changes: picking the Gators to finish 10th and South Carolina to place 11th, while having Ole Miss eighth and Arkansas ninth (the coaches' flipped the two).
SEC First Timers
No other NCAA Division I women's basketball conference entered the 2007-08 season with more new head coaches in place than the SEC.
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.
Who's Hot?
In UF's last FIVE games, Sha Brooks has had the hot hand, averaging a team-best 15 points per game, connecting on 41.4 percent (12-29) from the three-point arc, while dishing 12 assists and collecting 12 steals, also team-highs.
In Florida's last SEVEN 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. Entering the games on March 3, Brooks leads the SEC (all games) with a 81.7-percent free throw mark.
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 was 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.
From WAY Downtown
Sha Brooks drained a career-high seven three-pointers against Tennessee on February 28, when she connected on 7-of-11 from behind the arc en route to a season-high 27 points.
The seven treys tied for the second-most in a game in UF history, one behind the eight Bridget Pettis canned against Georgia on Jan. 20, 1993. Brooks' seven 3-pointers were the most by a Gator since Brandi McCain also hit seven against Washington on March 18, 2001 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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 1,097 of UF's 1,938 points (56.6%), 461 of 1107 rebounds (41.6%), 186 of 360 assists (51.7%) and 160 of 264 steals (60.6%) this season.
Game Day Information
What: Game 29: Florida at Ole Miss
When: Sunday, March 2, 2008 * 3 p.m., ET (2 p.m., CT)
Where: Oxford, Miss. * Tad Smith Coliseum (8,910)
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: TBA
Tad Smith Coliseum Press Row: 662-236-1931
END OF REPORT
