Women's Basketball Travels to Play at Nationally-Ranked Georgia on Thursday
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Florida looks to rebound from a tough loss when it travels to Athens, Ga., for a Thursday night match-up against the No. 19/16-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs. Tip-off from Stegeman Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. and the first 500 students will receive “Beat Florida” t-shirts.
The 58-game series against Georgia is the second-longest for Florida, trailing only the 68 match-ups versus instate rival Florida State. Georgia holds a commanding 45-13 lead in the series against Florida, including a 24-4 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 six consecutive in Stegeman Coliseum.
Last year, the teams split the two regular-season games, each winning on its home court with Georgia taking the 70-64 decision on Jan. 16 in Athens, before Florida earned the 74-71 win on Feb. 27 in Gainesville.
After playing nine consecutive games decided by double-figures (eight in favor of the Dawgs), the last five in the series have been single-digit affairs, with two of those Gator wins.
Georgia (13-3, 2-1 SEC) is ranked No. 19 in the current AP listing and No. 16 in the ESPN poll.
Florida is 1-2 this year against nationally-ranked opponents, posting a 72-58 victory on Nov. 17 against Florida State, which checked in at No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the ESPN-Coaches poll, but losing to No. 11/12 Rutgers (63-49) on Dec. 2 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach and to No. 6 Kentucky (59-56) on Jan. 1 in Gainesville.
Including this year's win against the Seminoles, Florida has collected 46 upset wins against a higher-ranked opponent, with 26 of those coming when the Gators were unranked.
Florida was picked in the preseason to finish fifth and sixth in the SEC by the league's coaches and media in the polls, respectively. Georgia was picked second and third, respectively.
Two current Gators are natives of the Peach State. Senior Jordan Jones, who was a two-year member of the Collins Hill HS team that compiled a 62-1 overall record and won a pair of Georgia Class 5A state championships, is a native of Suwanee, a mere 39 minutes from Athens. Sophomore Kayla Lewis also is a native of Decatur and helped Southwest DeKalb HS win the Class 4A state championship and was honored as the 2010 Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year and was named 2010 Miss Georgia Basketball by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Thursday is the first of two meetings this season between the teams, with the Gators playing host to the Lady Bulldogs on Feb. 19 in Gainesville.
Junior forward Jennifer George - named SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 26 - leads UF in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.1 rpg), an effort that ranks second in the SEC. She has posted eight consecutive double-doubles (nine total this year and 14 in her career) entering Thursday's game at Georgia, most recently posting an 16-point, 11-rebound effort against South Carolina on Jan. 8.
Senior Jordan Jones has been doing a bit of everything for the Gators this year, contributing 12.6 points, in addition to 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals, while hitting 36-of-102 treys (35.3%). Jones had converted at least one three-point attempt in 11 consecutive games before going 0-3 from beyond the arc against South Carolina on Jan. 8. This was her career third double-digit streak of converting three-pointers in a game, having already notched runs of 23 and 16. During her two-plus-year tenure at UF, Jones has drained 163 three-pointers, the fourth most in a career (third is 212 by Sha Brooks, 2005-09), as well as 260 overall.
Senior Deana Allen has provided Florida with a definite spark off the bench in every game she's played this year, averaging 8.2 points (fifth on team) and 56.1 rebounds (second on team), with a team-leading 1.9 steals. She hits 36.4 percent from the three-point arc (the highest on the team) and 73.0 percent from the free throw line (second-highest percentage).
The only game Allen has missed this year was the season-opener against Michigan when she sat out to recover from a concussion. Allen did make her first start of the year on Jan. 8 against South Carolina, responding with nine points, a season-high 10 rebounds and a team-best three assists with a pair of steals.
Florida has played 44 games over the last two-plus seasons with outcomes decided by 10 points or less, posting a 24-20 record in those tight ballgames. SIX games fit into that category this year – including all three SEC contests - , when UF has posted a 2-4 record: the 82-73 win against Charlotte (Nov. 26); the 68-66 loss to Michigan (Nov. 14); the 78-73 loss at Pacific (Dec. 9); the 59-56 setback to Kentucky (Jan. 1); the 59-55 win at Ole Miss (Jan. 5) and the 49-44 loss to South Carolina (Jan. 8).
Game Day Information
Florida Gators (11-5, 1-2 SEC) at the #19/16 Georgia Bulldogs (13-3, 2-1 SEC)
Thurs., January 12, 2012
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) - Athens, Ga.
FLORIDA GAME NOTES (PDF)
Game Coverage & More!
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: none
Internet Scoring: LIVE, link thru www.GatorZone.com (FREE)
Television: none
Stegeman Coliseum Press Row: 706-542-8052
Opening Tip
*UF has played 43 games over the last two-plus seasons decided by 10 pts or less; six this year, including all three SEC games
*Jennifer George has recorded eight consecutive double-doubles, tied for the sixth longest streak in UF history and the longest of its kind since Murriel Page's 13-game record run during the 1997-98 season
*the Gators have won the rebounding battle in 12 of 16 games this year, but have lost it the last two games
*Azania Stewart has 172 career blocked shots, tied for third all-time at UF with DeLisha Milton
*Jordan Jones has a 3-pointer in 14 of 16 games this year
