Gators Show Improvement in Second Practice of Year
Saturday, October 17, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Florida women's basketball head coach Amanda Butler was pleased with what she saw from her team on Saturday during the Gators' second practice of 2009-10.
“My challenge to the team at the beginning of practice was that we have to be better than we were yesterday. That's not to say that yesterday was bad, it's just that that should be our goal everyday,” Butler said. “Today, was a really good day. We shot the ball better. We talked more. We were more competitive. They never needed the coaches to help them focus mentally. I was very pleased with the consistency we showed at a high level and that's where we need to be every day.”
Red-shirt sophomore Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.), who was singled out by Butler for her solid play at Friday's practice, also shared her coach's assessment of the Gators' second official session.
“Today's practice was good and definitely better than yesterday because of the intensity,” Madu said. “Everybody's intensity went up from yesterday. We were more disciplined and we pushed and fought through points when we got tired.”
Madu, a 6-foot-2 forward, appeared in 26 games last year and totaled 62 points, with a career-high 11 coming against Savannah State on Nov. 24, when she also collected a career-high eight rebounds. She was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 14 after leading Florida to a pair of non-conference victories. Madu played in first game of the 2007-08 campaign, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice two days later.
Homecoming Weekend Continues
Former Gator Brittany Davis (2002-06) was in attendance at Friday's practice. Saturday's second practice of the year brought out Sarah Lowe (2002-06), who earned undergraduate degrees in Political Science and in Spanish in 2006.
Lowe has been living in Los Angeles since completing her Fulbright Scholarship in 2008. She currently works for a professor at UCLA and continues to do work with the non-profit organization she founded when she was at UF named Kujali International.
“We have launched a boarding school just outside Dar es Salaam in Tanzania that has about 75 kids,” Lowe shared. “The mission of the organization is to launch full-scale programming for orphan and vulnerable children.”
Lowe was able to find some free time during her busy schedule to return to Gainesville for Homecoming weekend festivities and she spoke to the 2009-10 team about her Gator experience following Saturday's practice.
“What I really enjoy about this coaching staff is that they really reach out to former alumnae and you really do feel welcome to return to campus and you feel part of the Gator family,” Lowe said. “Also having Amanda as former letterwinner herself is pretty neat because we've all been through the same program, obviously with different coaches, but at the end of the day we're all Gators, which is the most important part. I really enjoy being back and it's cool to see the new players and how they mesh.”
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