Gators Play Georgia in Athens on Sunday in Regular-Season Finale
Friday, February 27, 2009 | Women's Basketball
On Sunday, Florida and Georgia square off in the final regular-season game of their respective schedules with huge postseason implications on the line for both clubs. Tip-off from Stegeman Coliseum in Athens is slated for 2:30 p.m. ET.
Entering the final day of the regular-season, only four of the 12 seeds for the Southeastern Tournament have been solidified: No. 5 Tennessee, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 South Carolina and No. 12 Alabama.
LSU's victory over Tennessee on Thursday secured a first-round bye for Florida, marking the seventh time in the 30-year history of the event the Gators will not have to play on the first day.
The Gators will be either the No. 3 or the No. 4 seed, with the only way the team can earn the third seed is to defeat Georgia AND have Ole Miss upset LSU in Oxford.
For Georgia, not only is its SEC Tournament seeding still to be determined - it can be anywhere from No. 6 to No. 9 - the Lady Bulldogs are fighting to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. A win on Sunday would strengthen Georgia's resume and get the team to a .500-win mark in the SEC standings - which has usually been the standard for earning a bid to the “Big Dance.”
Georgia is 10-3 overall at home this season, including a 4-2 record in SEC action, with two of those victories coming against the top two teams in the league (Auburn and Vanderbilt).
Georgia holds a commanding 42-11 lead in the 53-game series against Florida, including a 21-4 record in games played in Athens. Florida has not defeated Georgia in Athens since an 83-73 victory on Jan. 18, 2004. Since that Gator win, the Lady Dawgs have won four consecutive in Stegeman Coliseum.
"We have been getting ready to play a Georgia team that's very dangerous and can beat any team in the country on a given day," UF head coach Amanda Butler said. "We have to be ready for them on their 'Senior Night,' which is always a very emotional day for the home team and those players and their teammates usually step-up their game for those seniors. We have to be ready for Georgia to come out with its 'A' game, no question about it."
Sunday will be the second meeting this season between the Gators and Lady Bulldogs. Florida used a 14-2 run early in the second half of the Jan. 18 contest to pull away in a tight ballgame en route to the 61-45 victory and snap a nine-game skid to Georgia, which shot just 32 percent from the floor and scored its fewest total points in the 53-game series history. Senior Marshae Dotson scored a game-high 20 points, helping UF out-score the taller 'Dawgs, 26-18, in the paint.
"What really stands out to me about our first meeting against Georgia was that it was one of our best defensive performances all year," Butler said. "We were very focused on getting stops and then focused on getting rebounds, which has been a hard thing for us putting those two things together consistently. We will have to make sure we're playing tough, stingy defense again like we did in that earlier meeting."
All-America candidate Sha Brooks leads UF's scoring brigade overall and in SEC games. The senior averages 16.6 points overall and 20.2 in league outings. Brooks has scored at least 20 points in seven of the 13 SEC games this season, including a run of three straight games where she went for 25 (at Arkansas), 29 (at Alabama) and 29 (vs. Tennessee). Brooks ranks among the SEC leaders in conference games for scoring (No. 2), assists (No. 3), steals (No. 5), three-point percentage (No. 2), assist/turnover ratio (No. 7), free throw percentage (No. 8) and field goal percentage (No. 8).
Dotson, UF's 5-foot-11 forward, is the team's second-leading scorer overall and in league games, averaging 13.2 and 14.9 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. 7), field goal percentage (No. 1 - No. 6 nationally) and rebounding (No. 10).
Georgia counters with its energetic point guard Ashley Houts, its 6-foot-5 post player Angel Robinson and 6-foot-2 forward Porsha Phillips. Houts is the ultimate floor general, having played 519 of a possible 520 minutes in league games this season, contributing 11.0 points and 5.5 assists, while hitting 16-of-50 from the three-point arc 37-for-46 from the free throw line in league games. Robinson, who scored a game-high 26 points on Thursday against Kentucky, averages 11.5 points with 9.5 rebounds in SEC games, while Phillips tallies 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds versus league foes.
Game Day Information
What: Florida (23-5, 9-4 SEC) at Georgia (16-12, 6-7 SEC)
When: Sunday, March 1, 2009 * 2:30 p.m.
Where: Athens, Ga. * Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
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 on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) with Paul Crane & Joe Ciampi
Post-Game Satellite Feed: none
-UF-
