Florida Hosts Mississippi State on Sunday in PINK ZONE Game
Saturday, February 19, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Florida has just three regular-season games remaining beginning with Sunday's 4:30 p.m. home contest against Mississippi State.
Fans are asked to note the unusually late weekend start time due to a live television broadcast, as Sun Sports airs the game statewide. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WBXY-FM 99.5 and in Jacksonville on WXFJ-AM 930, as well as through the internet at www.GatorZone.com.
There is a FREE PARKING SHUTTLE for the game, as Gator baseball plays next door beginning at 1 p.m. (SEE the map for the PARKING SHUTTLE area)
Shuttle service from the commuter lot on Gale Lemerand Drive begins at 11:30 a.m. The buses will stop at the corner of Gale Lemerand Drive and Stadium Road near Gate 2 of the O'Connell Center for access to the basketball and baseball events. Fans heading to the baseball game will have an additional stop on the shuttle near the south gate at the Lemerand Center adjacent to McKethan Stadium. The shuttles will run for 30 minutes following the conclusion of the event which is completed last.
Sunday will be Florida's PINK ZONE GAME, a WBCA initiative to support breast cancer awareness. All fans who wear pink receive $1 general admission.
The specially designed shoes Florida head coach Amanda Butler will be wearing during Sunday's home game will be auctioned off with all proceeds being donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
The Gators, who enjoyed a much-needed midweek bye, have lost their last four games, with three of those being decided by six points or less. The Bulldogs enter Sunday's game having lost their last two outings, but did earn road wins at Auburn and at Ole Miss prior to the two-game home slide.
Sunday's game is the second of two regular-season meetings between Florida and Mississippi State. The teams also squared off on Jan. 30 in Starkville, where junior co-captains Jordan Jones and Azania Stewart led the Gators to the 67-60 road victory.
Seventeen of UF's 27 games this year have been decided by 10 points or fewer, with 12 being six-point differences - most recently the 64-59 setback at Alabama on Feb. 13, when the Tide played their first game in the newly renovated Foster Auditorium. The Gators are 9-8 in games decided by 10 points or less this season.
· WATCH Coach Butler's preview of the game – FREE courtesy of GatorVision OnLine
· WATCH the interviews with Brittany Shine and Azania Stewart – FREE courtesy of GatorVision OnLine
All 12 SEC schools have three games remaining before the SEC Tournament, held March 3-6 in Nashville. The only seed close to being locked up is the No. 1 spot by Tennessee, which has a three-game lead against the rest of the league.
Florida won the hard-fought 67-60 game against MSU on Jan. 30 in Starkville and posted its fourth straight win in the series, which the Gators lead 20-18. UF is 10-6 at home against MSU, which last won in the O'Connell Center on Feb. 11, 2007 (79-74).
Jordan Jones leads the balanced Gator scoring effort, recording 9.6 points per game, hitting a team-leading 53 three-pointers at a 34.1 percent clip and playing 32.5 minutes per outing. Azania Stewart is Florida's leading rebounder with 6.0 per game and hits 53.8 percent field goal mark (Stewart led the SEC in field goal percentage last year, 61.9%). Her 51 blocked shots is also tops for the Gators and second in the SEC. Lanita Bartley is dishing 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals, while finding her way to the free throw a team-best 105 times.
During the last FOUR games, Jennifer George is averaging a team-best 11.3 points and 9.3 rebounds, while hitting 57.1 percent (20-35) from the floor. Freshman Brittany Shine also has stepped up her game recently, averaging 8.5 points in the Gator's last four contests, while Deana Allen is nailing 50-percent (7-14) of her three-point attempts.
Game Day Information
Florida Gators (14-13, 4-9 SEC) host the Mississippi St. Bulldogs (10-15, 2-11 SEC)
Sunday, February 20, 2011 - 4:30 pm ET
Stephen C. O'Connell Center (12,000) - Gainesville, Fla.
Game Coverage & More!
Radio: LIVE on WBXY-FM 99.5 “The Star” in Gainesville and WXFJ-AM (930) in Jacksonville called by Adam Schick and Brittany Davis
Internet Audio: LIVE thru www.GatorZone.com (FREE)
Internet Video: LIVE thru www.GatorVision.tv (subscription required)
Television: LIVE on Sun Sports (Cox Channel 48/748 (HD) in Gainesville) with Larry Vettel & Mark Wise
TV Satellite Feed/ XOS Digital XChange: none
Tickets: $5 for reserved seats; $4 for general admission seats, senior and children; $2 for general admission seating and FREE for UF and Santa Fe students with valid ID
Additional Hoopla for Sunday!
* Pink Zone –Wear pink and support breast cancer awareness! All fans who wear pink receive $1 general admission!
* The Villages Days II – Fives buses will pick up residents from The Villages in Ocala and bring them to the game. The first 250 residents who RSVP will receive free admission in reserved seating. Residents will also receive a free Pink Zone t-shirt.
* Dance Marathon II – All 16 dance marathon organizations are invited to attend game and receive 20 spirit points per person toward their organization. Organization with highest attendance receives $250 and organization with second highest attendance receives $100. Dance marathon check-in will be at Gate 4 for and will also perform linedance at halftime.
* Family 4 Pack Sunday – 4 general admission tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas for only $20!
2011 PINK ZONE
The specially designed shoes Florida head coach Amanda Butler will be wearing during Sunday's home game will be auctioned off with all proceeds being donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
There will be a silent auction during the Gator's final two home games when fans can place a bid for the shoes, with the winner being announced following the game on Sunday, Feb. 27, and presented the shoes at that time by Coach Butler.
The auction opens at 4:30 p.m. on Sun., Feb. 20, when Florida tips-off against Mississippi State in the O'Connell Center, and ends at the conclusion of the game, to be reopened with tip-off for the 2 p.m. start time on Feb. 27 against Georgia and officially end when the final horn sounds after that game.
Coach Butler is one of several NCAA Division I women's basketball head coaches wearing specially designed shoes supporting the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, joining Oklahoma's Sherri Coale, Miami's Kate Meier, Kentucky's Matthew Mitchell, LSU's Van Chancellor and North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell. National television personalities Carolyn Peck and Debbie Antonelli also will sport specially designed shoes.
