Florida Returns to Action Tuesday, Hosts Harvard at 7 pm
Monday, December 6, 2010 | Women's Basketball
The Gators continue their hectic pre-final exam schedule, hosting Harvard on Tuesday in the O'Connell Center, where tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The game against the Crimson will be Florida's third in four days and its sixth in 13 days, also traveling 4,646 miles during the span with trips to Maine and Providence, R.I.
Harvard (4-2) has not played since Friday, Dec. 3, when it defeated Hartford, 85-61.
Florida (7-2) will be aiming to recover from Sunday's disappointing 56-50 loss at Brown, when the Gators shot a season-low 30.6 percent (22-72) from the field. The loss snapped Florida's five-game winning streak, the team's longest since the 2008-09 season when the squad rattled off a program-record 16-game win streak.
“We need to show continued growth and improvement,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “I'm not trying to be vague, we just really need to try and find ways to improve because we know we have a good team and have all the pieces to the puzzle, it's a matter of putting them in the right order so that the picture looks the way it's suppose to. We're still a piece out of joint here and there on this day or that and we need to get everyone on the same page. We need to finds ways to do that consistently.”
Florida is 4-0 at home this season, sporting a modest seven-game non-conference home winning streak dating back to last year.
Jordan Jones is the only Gator averaging a double-figure scoring effort, recording 10.6 points per game, hitting a team-leading 19 three-pointers and playing 34.7 minutes per outing.
Azania Stewart is Florida's leading rebounder with 7.7 per game, as she also leads the club with a 52.5 percent field goal mark and 14 blocked shots and is second on the team with 8.4 points per game.
Lanita Bartley is dishing 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals, while finding her way to the free throw a team-best 33 times.
Ndidi Madu recorded the first two double-doubles of her career in UF's last two games, when she contributed 13.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, while hitting 54.5 percent (12-22) of her shots.
Freshman Deaundra Young also charted her first double-double in the Gators last game, tallying career-highs of 10 points and 10 rebounds against Brown. She is averaging 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds during the last two games, while recording five blocked shots.
Thank goodness for tough defense because the Gator offense has been chilly - ice cold in fact - shooting the ball during the last six games. The Gators are converting 36.0 percent (137-381) during that span, including a 23.9 percent (26-109) mark from the three-point arc and 57.6 percent (53-92) from the free throw line.
During the last six games, Florida is holding its opponents to 52.0 points per game and hitting 34.5 percent from the floor. The Gators have enjoyed a +10.2 rebounding margin during the span and have not allowed more than 56 points in any of those games.
Tuesday will be the third all-time meeting between Harvard and Florida, which claimed the previous games, including the most recent outing that occurred back on Nov. 24, 2000, in the first round of the Dead River Company Classic hosted by the University of Maine in Orono.
The Crimson played their first five games of the year on the road, before finally having the chance to play and defeat Hartford 85-61 on Fri., Dec. 3 at Lavietes Pavilion.
Eight players average double-figure minutes, with a ninth seeing 9.8 minutes per game. The same five players have started all six games entering Tuesday's affair, and fittingly those five lead the club in scoring.
Victoria Lippert leads Harvard's offensive attack with 14.2 points per game and shooting 59.6 percent from the floor, including 47.4 percent (9-19) from the three-point arc. Emma Markely adds 12.5 points and collects a team-leading 6.3 rebounds, while Brogan Berry tallies 11.7 points, hitting 36.7 percent (11-of-30) of her three-pointers, while dishing 23 assists.
“Harvard is exactly what you would close your eyes and think they would be,” Butler said. “They are very talented and very smart. They are well-rounded. They are an Ivy League school with the tradition of an Old Dominion. Harvard has dominated their league. They are very well coached, confident, shoot the ball well and are experienced. They do a great job of getting the ball in the paint and finding shooters on the perimeter. We're certainly going to have our hands full.”
Eight of Florida's nine games this season have been decided by 10 points or fewer, with four being six-point-or-less differences.
Game Day Information
Florida (7-2) hosts Harvard (4-2)
Tue., December 7, 2010 - 7 pm ET
Stephen C. O'Connell Center (12,000) - Gainesville, Fla.
FLORIDA Game Notes (PDF)
HARVARD Game Notes (PDF)
Game Coverage
Radio: LIVE on WBXY-FM 99.5 “The Star” in Gainesville called by Adam Schick and Brittany Davis
Internet Audio: LIVE thru www.GatorZone.com (FREE)
Internet Video: LIVE on GatorVision.tv thru GatorZone.com (fee based)
Television: None
TV Satellite Feed/ XOS Digital XChange: available within 2 hours after the conclusion of the game
Tickets: $5 for reserved seats; $4 adult general admission; $2 for youth age 17 and under; FREE for UF and Santa Fe students
Additional Hoopla For Today's Game
* $1 Day Online Coupon – Click on GatorZone.com to find a coupon to print out and bring to the game for $1 general admission. The coupon will be presented to the Ticket Office window to receive $1 general admission tickets.
* $1 Day Concessions - Select concession items are only $1.
* Diet-Pepsi Can Special Ticket Offer – Fans who bring in a Pepsi can with the special ticket offer for December 7th or December 20th-21st printed on it receive general admission tickets for only $2!
* Gator Boosters Special II – All Gator Boosters invited to attend the first game of each month for free admission.
* UF Alumni Association Special II – All UFAA members invited to attend the first game of each month for free admission.
