Florida Holds Initial Practice of 2010-11 Season
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida women's basketball team held its first practice of the 2010-11 season, as a youthful squad featuring just one senior and six newcomers joined head coach Amanda Butler, whose 58 wins through three years are the most by any previous coach in program history.
“I was very pleased with practice. I thought we showed a high level of intensity and did a great job of setting the tone for the type of team we hope to be,” said Butler, who is the first Gator women's basketball coach to lead the team to the postseason in each of her initial three years. “In terms of tempo and our defensive intensity, I thought we did a really good job. We need to stay eager and keep pushing one another.”
All 12 Gators comprising the 2010-11 roster were on the court for the two-hour practice, as the Gators made defense the focus of the day.
Florida returns five letterwinners from last year's team that earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic berth into the postseason WNIT. Six newcomers in addition to redshirt-freshman Lily Svete (Granger, Ind.) caught on to drills quickly and brought a fresh energy to the court.
Junior Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.), UF's leading returning scorer from last year, is the lone perimeter player with Division I experience, but that didn't cause Butler to alter practice plans.
In fact, Butler praised the entire squad and singled out newcomers Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) for their display.
“At moments it was very evident that we have a lot of new players, but there were more moments when it wasn't as apparent. Lanita was our Brickhouse winner (team award) for today and I thought JT (Jaterra Bonds) did a great job of setting the tone for her team that she led during a scrimmage at the end of practice today. We still have a lot to learn, but we have a lot of people establishing themselves right now,” Butler shared.
The Gators take Tuesday off and return to the court on Wednesday for their second practice of the year.
A new NCAA rule allows programs to conduct its first practice 40 days from the team's first regular-season game. The Gators launch their 2010-11 season on Nov. 13, when they play host to UCF in the first round of the WNIT. The start time for that game will be determined once the Florida football game versus South Carolina game time has been set, as the two Gator programs host on the same day in Gainesville.
For all of the latest information on Florida women's basketball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/basketball/women or www.CoachAmandaButler.com, as well as http://www.facebook.com/FloridaWomensBasketball. Follow Coach Butler on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CoachButlerUF.
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