Florida WBB Plays at No. 9/8 Auburn Sunday in Match-Up of Ranked Teams
Saturday, January 10, 2009 | Women's Basketball
The Southeastern Conference teams featuring the top two scoring offenses, the best two overall records and the longest winning streaks battle on Sunday, when No. 18/19 Florida travels to face No. 9/8 Auburn at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum with tip-off slated for 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT).
The Gators sport a 15-1 overall mark which is the best 16-game record in program history, while riding a 16-game winning streak, also a program record.
The Tigers are one of just four undefeated teams remaining in the country (entering Saturday's games), joining Connecticut (at West Virginia Saturday), North Carolina (host NC State Sunday) and Kansas State (host Kansas Saturday). This is the third time Auburn has jumped out to a 16-0 record in program history.
Offensively, Florida is netting 76.2 points per game, the second-highest average in the SEC, behind only Auburn's 80.9 per game tally, which ranks sixth in the country.
The game between Auburn and Florida is one of only three that will be played Sunday that features two AP-nationally-ranked teams squaring off against each other.
No. 17/16 Rutgers plays at No. 10/12 Louisville and No. 7/11 Tennessee plays at No. 24 Vanderbilt. Also in action Sunday is No. 15/14 Virginia, which plays host to Wake Forest, ranked t-No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll but unranked by the Associated Press.
“I think it's going to be an incredible game,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “We have a lot of tough match-ups for several different reasons. Auburn will be our biggest challenge to this point in our season. I also think that if history is an indicator, we tend to play our best ball in games where we face our biggest challenges.”
Auburn is the fourth nationally-ranked team Florida will be playing, having posted a 3-0 record in those previous contests. The Tigers, however, are easily the highest-ranked club, with the previous honor going to then-No. 16/19 Pittsburgh, which the Gators topped 90-83 in Gainesville on Dec. 21st. On the flip side, Florida is the second ranked team Auburn is facing, with the Tigers earning the 87-80 overtime win against then-No. 17/18 Ohio State in Columbus on Nov. 23rd.
This season, Auburn is 5-0 at home, where the Tigers are averaging an incredible 95.0 points per game, while outscoring their visitors by an eye-popping 27.0 points per game.
The Tigers hold a 29-14 lead in the all-time series, including a 12-4 record in games played in Auburn, where Florida has not won since a 71-60 decision on Feb. 29, 2004. The Gators captured last year's 73-67 victory in Gainesville to snap a three-game slide against the Tigers.
The Gators are 14-87 all-time against teams ranked in the top-10, including a 1-5 record versus teams that are ranked No. 9 in the AP poll. UF's last victory against a top-10 foe was its stunning 95-93 overtime upset against No. 5 Tennessee in Knoxville on Feb. 26, 2006, when the Gators were unranked entering the contest.
UF seniors Sha Brooks and Marshae Dotson were voted as First Team All-SEC performers during the preseason and both showed why during Florida's league-opener on Jan. 8 against Mississippi State. Against the Lady Bulldogs, Brooks scored a career-high 31 points and became the first Gator to score at least 30 in a game since Dec. 22, 2003, when Bernice Mosby scored 30 vs. George Washington. Against the Lady Bulldogs, Brooks also dished six assists, grabbed six rebounds and collected four steals. Dotson poured in 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting against the taller Lady Bulldogs, while collecting nine rebounds and a career-high-tying five steals.
The veteran pair also are the only two Gators averaging a double-figure scoring effort, headlining UF's potent and very balanced attack. Brooks leads the team in scoring (14.5 ppg), assists (65), steals (27), free throws made (63) and free throws attempted (77). In addition to 12.1 points per game, Dotson leads UF in rebounding (7.2 pg), field goal percentage (59.1%) and offensive rebounds (55).
In Florida's three games this season vs. ranked opponents, Brooks is averaging 24.3 points, while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor (23-46) and 80.6 percent from the free throw line (25-31).
Junior Sharielle Smith quietly overtook Dotson for the rebounding lead last week, but moved back atop the chart after totaling 29 in the last three games (9.7 rpg). Smith has one fewer rebound than Dotson and sports a 7.1 per game average, while hitting a team-high 88.4 percent from the free throw line (38-43).
Auburn senior DeWanna Bonner, the consensus preseason pick for SEC Player of the Year, has been everything advertised to this point in the season. She leads the league's top-scoring offense with 19.4 points per game, while collecting 8.3 rebounds and helping the Tigers race out to a 16-0 start, the third best season-opening record in program history. Bonner paced AU's scoring against South Carolina, with 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and 11-of-15 from the free throw line.
Bonner, however, isn't the only player who has picked up her game. Guard Sherell Hobbs, who joins Bonner in AU's 1,000-point club, is contributing 12.1 points, 4.9 boards and 2.5 steals per game. Sophomore Alli Smalley, who averages 13.6 points per game, leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the country with a 48.8 percent 3-point shooting mark (39-of-80).
Senior Whitney Boddie also has been turning heads, as she contributes 9.5 points along with 7.5 assists, while sporting a 2.95 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks No. 2 in the nation.
Redshirt junior KeKe Carrier, who stands 6-foot-7 and shoots 69 percent from the floor in contributing 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds with 26 blocks this season, came off the bench against South Carolina to grab 10 rebounds, block five shots and score six points in just 17 minutes.
Entering Sunday's game against Auburn, the Gator offense is lighting up the scoreboard for 76.2 points per game, while shooting 47.4 percent from the field - the No. 2 percentage among all SEC teams this season (behind Auburn) and the seventh-best in the country (through games played Jan. 4), a mark even more impressive since the Gators' don't have one 6-footer in their starting lineup.
Game Day Information
What: No. 18/19 Florida (15-1, 1-0 SEC) at No. 9/8 Auburn (16-0, 1-0 SEC)
When: Sunday, January 11, 2009 * 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT)
Where: Auburn, Ala. * Beard-Eaves Memorial 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)
Streaming Internet Video: none
Television: none
Post-Game Satellite Feed: 6:45-7 p.m. ET
C-Band: Galaxy 28, Transponder 19 (downlink frequency is 4080 MHx-H), Trouble number is 334-844-9369 (Steve Sain)
-UF-
