Gators Look to Rebound on Sunday at LSU in Nationally Televised Game
Saturday, February 14, 2009 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team returns to the court on Sunday, when the team travels to play LSU in Baton Rouge with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. ET (Noon CT) and will be televised live nationally by FSN.
Florida needs to regroup after Thursday's disappointing 84-68 loss to No. 24 Vanderbilt in Nashville, where the Commodores raced out to a 12-0 lead and the Gators never recovered.
Not only did the loss snap Florida's program-record seven-game Southeastern Conference win streak, it dropped the Gators out of a tie for first-place in the league standings and into a tie with Vanderbilt for second.
Florida (22-3, 8-2 SEC) has just four games remaining in its SEC regular-season schedule, including Sunday's game at LSU. Seven SEC clubs have at least five wins in league play, meaning every game carries that much more pressure as the teams jockey for the SEC regular-season title and seeding in the SEC Tournament. The Gators' quest for their first-ever SEC regular-season title is still alive, however, Thursday's loss now means Florida no longer is in complete control of its own fate.
Even more daunting for the Gators will be the atmosphere expected inside Pete Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC), where the Lady Tigers are incorporating the inaugural Women's Basketball Coaches Association's “Pink Zone Challenge” with the 13th annual “Pack the PMAC” promotion.
LSU (12-9, 5-4 SEC) holds a commanding 21-9 all-time lead in the 30-game series versus Florida, including a 10-3 record in Baton Rouge. The Lady Tigers have won the last two meetings and eight of the last nine games, as well as 11 of the last 13. Over the last nine games, LSU has won those eight meetings by an average of 20.8 points.
The Gators' last win in Baton Rouge was on Jan. 21, 1996, when current UF head coach Amanda Butler was in her first year as a Florida assistant coach. Since that Gator victory, LSU has won seven straight at home against the Gators.
Florida's most recent win in the series was the 79-78 stunner on Feb. 16, 2006, when the unranked Gators shocked the No. 2/3-ranked Lady Tigers, marking the highest-ranked opponent Florida has ever defeated.
LSU enjoyed a mid-week bye to regroup after its 65-55 setback to Mississippi State on Feb. 8 in Starkville. The Lady Tigers were picked to place fifth in the SEC during a preseason vote of the league's coaches and media, while Florida was selected to finish sixth.
LSU boasts the SEC's top scoring-defense (52.7 ppg, No. 7 in the nation through games played Feb. 12), while Florida features the league's second best scoring-offense (75.7 ppg, No. 11 in the nation).
Florida's loss to Vanderbilt (Feb. 13) snapped several streak the Gators had compiled entering that game. Among those that ended were UF's program-record seven-game SEC win streak, as well as the consecutive double-figure scoring games by leading scorers Sha Brooks and Marshae Dotson, who had tallied 14 and nine in a row, respectively, before both were held under 10 against the Commodores.
Brooks leads UF's scoring brigade overall and in SEC games. The senior averages 16.0 points overall and 20.0 in league outings. Brooks is coming off a tremendous week, when she scored 29 points against both Alabama and Tennessee en route to being named the SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 9.
Dotson is UF's second-leading scorer overall and in league games, averaging 12.7 and 14.1 points, respectively. Even more impressive is her accuracy and tenacity in the paint, leading UF in rebounding and field goal percentage. Dotson ranks among the SEC leaders in conference play for scoring (No. 9), field goal percentage (No. 1) and rebounding (No. 10).
Junior guard Steffi Sorensen is averaging 10.1 points per SEC game, shooting 42.2 percent from the three-point arc (27-64), the second-highest percentage among league players, while emerging as UF's second-leading rebounder in SEC games with 5.7 per outing. Entering Sunday's game against LSU, Sorensen has hit at least one three-pointer in 20 consecutive games, tied for the second-longest streak in program history.
At Vanderbilt on Thursday, freshman Azania Stewart had her best game as a Gator, scoring a team-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and grabbing seven rebounds in 24 minutes of action - all of those stats career-bests.
Game Day Information
What: Florida (22-3, 8-2 SEC) at LSU (12-9, 5-4 SEC)
When: Sunday, February 15, 2009 * 1 p.m. ET (Noon CT)
Where: Baton Rouge, La. * Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,468)
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: LIVE NATIONAL telecast on FSN (Cox Cable channel 70 in Gainesville) with Dave Neal & Carol Ross
Post-Game Satellite Feed: none
-UF-
