Gators Play South Carolina in SEC First Round on Thursday
Thursday, March 6, 2008 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team will play South Carolina in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Thursday beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT) at The Sommet Center.
Rubber Match
Thursday will be the third meeting this season between Florida and South Carolina, with the teams splitting the decisions and each winning on the other's home court. If the third match-up in 2007-08 is anything like the first two, SEC Tournament fans are in for a treat.
The Gators took the 60-57 victory in Columbia on January 27, before the Gamecocks claimed the 69-65 decision in Gainesville on February 24th.
More on the Series vs. South Carolina
The Gamecocks have won three of the last four meetings in the 24-game series, but the Gators still hold a 15-9 edge overall. The two regular-season games played this year marked the first time the teams have played consecutive single-digit outcomes.
The two teams have met just once in prior SEC Tournament competition, with Florida earning the 65-48 victory in the first round of the 1996 event. Current UF head coach Amanda Butler was an assistant coach on the Gator staff that year, helping the team reach the semifinals.
Game Day Gator Tales
Florida exceeded preseason expectations by finishing tied for seventh in the SEC regular-season standings, earning the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament where the Gators play 10th-seeded South Carolina in the opening round.
Pre-Season Picks
The SEC coaches selected Florida to finish 11th in the 12-team league standings during the preseason vote.
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).
Moving on Up
No team made a bigger improvement from last season to this season than the Gators, who won four more SEC games in 2008 than in 2007, had a greater improvement in their place in the final league standings more (from 11th in 2007 to tied-for-seventh in 2008) and made a bigger jump from preseason expectations (voted 11th in SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll).
Florida at the SEC Tournament
Florida holds a 14-27 all-time record in the SEC Tournament, reaching the championship game in 1997, the team's lone appearance in the final. Current UF head coach Amanda Butler was an assistant coach on the Gator staff that year.
UF is 9-12 all-time in SEC Tournament first round games and has won its last two opening round contests entering the 2008 event.
Butler at the SEC Tournament
During her two seasons as an assistant coach at Florida, Amanda Butler helped the Gators reach the SEC Tournament semifinal round in 1996 and the championship game in 1997.
During her four-year career as a starting point guard for the Gators (1990-94), Butler played in and started five SEC Tournament games, averaging 29.4 minutes, while contributing 4.2 points, 3.0 assists and 2.6 steals.
Back for More at the SEC Tournament
UF assistant coaches Susie Gardner and David Lowery are returning to the SEC Tournament with the Gators.
Gardner played her college ball at Georgia, where she was a member of three SEC Tournament championship teams (1983, 1984 & 1986). She then served as a graduate assistant coach with the Lady Bulldogs for two seasons, helping her alma mater reach the 1987 championship game and the 1988 semifinal round.
Lowery is a 2000 graduate of Mississippi State. During his tenure with the Lady Bulldogs, he was a student manager with the team that reached the SEC Tournament championship game in 2000, before spending the next year as a graduate assistant with the squad.
One Wish, But She Can't Tell Anyone
The youngest of the SEC's 12 head coaches, UF's Amanda Butler will celebrate her 36th birthday on Thursday, March 6th watching her Gators play South Carolina in the first round.
Local Flavor
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 just 15 miles from Nashville, site of the 2008 SEC Tournament.
Current Gators who hail from the nation's 16th state include Sha Brooks is from Jackson (120 miles from Nashville), Kim Critton is from Memphis (196 miles from Nashville), Kerri Simpson is from Charleston (129 miles from Nashville) and Ndidi Madu is from Antioch (147 miles from Nashville).
Nine Would Be Divine
Florida enters the SEC Tournament already having won EIGHT more games than the team compiled last season (9). The eight-game improvement made by Amanda Butler and her staff is tied for the most by a Gator head coach in their first year in Gainesville. Debbie Yow also led her inaugural Florida team to an eight-game improvement, posting a 19-9 record during the 1983-84 season after inheriting a team that finished 11-16 the previous year.
Who's Hot?
In UF's last SEVEN games, Sha Brooks has had the hot hand, averaging a team-best 15.7 points per game, connecting on 38.1 percent (16-42) from the three-point arc, while dishing 19 assists and collecting 19 steals, also team-highs.
In Florida's last EIGHT games, Sha Brooks has converted 31-of-34 free throws (91.2%), including her 2-of-2 effort with 1.2 seconds remaining in the thrilling 75-73 victory over Arkansas on February 17. Entering the SEC Tournament, Brooks leads the SEC (all games) with a 82.1-percent free throw mark.
Don't Doubt Dotson
Marshae Dotson, who stands just 5-foot-11 and was voted by the league's head coaches as a First Team All-SEC performer, is the SEC's SIXTH-leading rebounder for league games, collecting 8.0 per outing, trailing the likes of LSU's 6-foot-6 Sylvia Fowles, South Carolina's 6-foot-4 Demetress Adams, Auburn's 6-foot-4 DeWanna Bonner, Tennessee's 6-foot-4 Candace Parker, Georgia's 6-foot-3 Tasha Humphrey and UG's 6-foot-5 Angel Robinson.
For good measure, Dotson ranked No. 3 in SEC games for field goal percentage (53.8%), No. 8 in scoring (13.6 ppg), No. 2 in offensive rebounds (3.43 pg), No. 8 for free throw percentage (70.0%) and tied for No. 9 for defensive rebounds (4.57 pg).
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 1,143 of UF's 2,010 points (56.9%), 483 of 1,144 rebounds (42.2%), 194 of 375 assists (51.7%) and 170 of 274 steals (62.0%) this season.
First Round Gator Game Day
Who: #7 Seed Florida vs. #10 Seed South Carolina
What: 29th SEC Women's Basketball Tournament: First Round
When: Thursday, March 6 at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT)
Where: Nashville, Tenn. * Sommet (pronounced so-MAY) Center (19,395)
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: Every game of first three rounds LIVE on SEC-TV (FSN South, FSN Southwest & Sun Sports) ... Final on ESPN2
Post-Game Satellite Feed:
Date: Thursday, March 6
Time: 6:30PM ET (18:30-18:45) & 12:30AM ET (00:30-00:45)
Length: 15 minutes each
Coordinates: Galaxy 11, Transponder 20 (KU Band)
Uplink: 14400[H]
Downlink: 12100[V]
Sommet Center Press Row: 615-770-2120
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