Women's Hoops Ready for Auburn in SEC Tournament First Round, Thursday 1 pm ET
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Florida plays Auburn in the first round of the 2012 Southeastern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
The eighth-seeded Gators (18-11, 8-8 SEC) and ninth-seeded Tigers (13-16, 5-11 SEC) will play the initial game of the 12-team event on Thursday, March 1, with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT. The winner meets top-seeded Kentucky on Friday, March 2 at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT.
· CHECK out the PHOTO GALLERY from the Gator's practice at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday – courtesy of Matt Pendleton Photography
Thursday's opening round game will be televised live by FSN, with coverage throughout the state of Florida airing on SunSports. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WBXY-FM 99.5 “The Star” and on 104.9-FM and in Jacksonville on AM930 WFXJ, with the audio also available via the internet at www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators. There will not be live video streaming of any games played in the first two days.
Florida defeated Auburn, 70-56, in Gainesville on February 9 in the only regular-season meeting between the two teams this year. Senior Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) led the Gators in scoring against the Tigers with 17 points and Florida earned a 70-56 victory over Auburn at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The victory was the third consecutive for the Gators, who used strong defense throughout and forced 22 Auburn turnovers that led to 26 points. Florida was also able to get out in transition and score 13 fast-break points, compared to just two for the Tigers. The Gators and Tigers exchange buckets for the majority of the first half, when there were five lead changes and six tied scores, with the lead getting no larger than five for either team.
“We're excited to play Auburn again in the SEC Tournament, although we know that's a tough match up,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “Auburn has been playing really good basketball and finished the regular season strong. We know we have to play our best.
“There were a lot of things we saw when we played them the first time in our preparation for them,” Butler said. “They are very talented, have a lot of length, have a great shooter in Blanche Alverson who always seems to have great games against us. They've mixed their lineup a bit and moved players into different positions since the last time we played them and that shows their versatility. They are playing really good basketball right now. They enter the tournament with a lot of momentum from a couple of big wins.
“They also have a bit of emotion on their side with (Auburn head coach) Nell Fortner deciding to step down at the end of the season. I know her teams plays hard for her and probably extra hard right now. They are very talented and have play makers at every position. We have to play well and execute a lot better than we did in our last game. We have to make Florida basketball a lot more important than Auburn basketball,” Butler continued.
Alverson, a junior forward, contributes 8.9 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Tigers, while sophomore guard leads the team with 10.6 points with 3.9 rebounds. Senior Parrisha Simmons leads Auburn with 5.1 rebounds per game.
Including Thursday's SEC Tournament opening round game against Auburn, Florida will have faced an out-going coach in two of its last three games. Florida was MSU's first opponent following coach Sharon Fanning-Otis' announcement, earning a win against the Bulldogs on Feb. 23. The Gators then faced Tennessee (and Coach Pat Summitt) in Knoxville to end the regular season and now have to battle emotion-charged Auburn led by coach Nell Fortner, who announced she too would be stepping down from her post at the end of the season.
Florida holds a 16-31 all-time record in the SEC Tournament, reaching the championship game in 1997, the team's lone appearance in the final. Current UF head coach Amanda Butler was an assistant coach on the Gator staff that year. The Gators sport an 11-13 all-time record in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Last year, Florida downed Arkansas and advanced to the quarterfinals, falling to top-seeded Tennessee.
The Gators have won five of their last eight games, as well as five of their last 10. Florida lost those four of the five games by a combined total of 15 points and all five of those setbacks were on the road, with four against nationally ranked opponents (at Tennessee, at Kentucky, at South Carolina and at Vanderbilt in OT) and the fifth in double-overtime versus recently-ranked Arkansas.
The Tigers hold a 32-16 lead in the all-time series, including a 7-1 record in neutral site games - all at the SEC Tournament. Florida's lone neutral site victory against Auburn was the 72-67 win in the first round of the 1994 event, when the Gators were the No. 3 seed and the Tigers the No. 10 seed. The Tigers have won six of the last nine games in the series, however the Gators won the regular-season meeting in Gainesville this year.
Florida has played 14 games this year decided by 10 points or less, with 10 of UF's 16 SEC games this season were decided by six points or less and 11 of 16 by decided by single digits.
Junior forward Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.), who on Wednesday was named First Team All-SEC, continues to lead UF in scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.0 rpg), an effort that also is second in the SEC (in SEC games and all games).
Senior Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Fla.) has been doing a bit of everything for the Gators this year, contributing 11.4 points, in addition to 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals, while hitting 62-of-176 treys (35.2%).
Bartley has stepped up her game during her second and final season wearing the Gator orange & blue. She's Florida's third-leading scorer (9.1 ppg) and leads the club in assists (3.2 apg) and steals (1.93 pg). The 5-foot-6 Bartley also tied for UF's second-leading rebounder (5.1 rpg) in SEC games!
Senior Deana Allen (Houma, La.), who was voted the by league's head coaches as the 2012 Co-SEC 6th Woman of the Year, has provided Florida with a definite spark off the bench in every game she's played this year, averaging 7.8 points (fifth on team) and 4.9 rebounds (third on team), with 1.5 steals (second on the team). She hits 31.3 percent from the three-point arc (the third-highest on the team) and 71.9 percent from the free throw line (highest percentage).
Game Day Information
#8 Seed Florida Gators (18-11, 8-8 SEC) vs. the #9 Seed Auburn Tigers (13-16, 5-11 SEC)
2012 SEC Tournament * First Round
Thursday, March 1, 2012 * 1 pm ET/Noon CT
Bridgestone Arena (17,576) - Nashville, Tenn.
Official SEC Tournament Website
Game Coverage & More!
Radio: LIVE on WBXY-FM 99.5 “The Star” and 104.9-FM in Gainesville and AM930 WFXJ in Jacksonville called by Adam Schick and Brittany Davis
Internet Audio: LIVE thru www.GatorZone.com (FREE)
Internet Video: none for first two rounds
Television: LIVE on FSN (on SunSports state-wide) with Dave Neal and LaChina Robinson
Opening Tip
*9 of UF's 11 losses this year have been by 6 points or less
*UF has played 52 games over the last three seasons decided by 10 points or less; 14 this year
*10 of UF's 16 SEC games were decided by 6 points or fewer, with 11 of 16 being decided by single digits
*Florida is ranked No. 37 in NCAA's RPI Rankings and has a strength of schedule rated No. 11 (last updated Feb. 27, released every Monday)
*Jennifer George ranks No. 11 in the country in field goal percentage (54.6%) and No. 11 for double-doubles (14)
*Jordan Jones has converted a 3-pointer in 12 consecutive games
