Road Toward a Comeback Season Starts in Philly for UF Women's Basketball Team
Friday, November 13, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By TARYN BRAY
GatorZone.com Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It will be a homecoming debut like no other for redshirt freshman guard Isis Young when the Gators women's basketball team opens its season Friday night at Temple.
For Young, who took a medical redshirt as a freshman due to her recovery from an ACL injury, Friday will be her first game at UF.
And it happens to be right in her backyard.
The Delaware River and 21 miles is all that separates Young's family and The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
“I'm not a big believer in fate, but I think that was fate,” said Young. “It's my first collegiate game so it's going to be really memorable to have them there for it.”
It's been a grueling month mentally and physically for Young and her teammates as the Gators gear up to get their season started. And based on the recent past, Florida is ready to hit the court, especially to prove this is a different team than last year's.
A season ago the Gators finished 13-17 and missed the postseason for only the second time under head coach Amanda Butler.
“We've been very anxious to get the season started,” said junior forward Ronni Williams. “It's what we've been waiting for so we've been going after it at practice.”
Williams figures to be a key piece of the puzzle if the Gators are to reverse their fortunes.
Standing six feet tall, Williams has the ability to bring the ball up the court, play on the perimeter or dominate in the paint.
She led the team in scoring last season by averaging 10.3 points per game. She is the first sophomore to lead UF in scoring since the 2006-07 season and there are obvious expectations for her this season.
“I expect Ronni to be a leader on the court, but she's also the type of player that's really focused and looking to score this year,” said assistant coach Murriel Page. “She's going to crash the boards more and look to take over the scoring for the team.”
Consistency is the key for Williams.
Although Williams will clearly play a significant role on this year's team, it's not clear yet whether she will start. Those sorts of questions will begin to be answered starting Friday night.
Williams preferred coming off the bench last season, but because the team lost senior forward Kayla Lewis to graduation, Williams may not have that option with the Gators in need of a veteran post presence.
Earlier this week she was named to the preseason All-SEC second-team but those honors don't mean much to her.
“We just want to win as a team and compete for a national championship,” she said. “That's what really means the most to me.”
The rest of the starting five remains unclear. Butler said who starts and who doesn't is not something they dwell on. They start people strategically and sometimes people come off the bench simply because of matchups.
The team practiced twice on Wednesday leading up to the game and also had a 7 a.m. practice Thursday before taking off for Philadelphia.
“The same way we compete on the practice court is what I expect to see in the game,” Williams said. “It's going to be a great year for us.”
Their dedication is shining through but will ultimately be put to an early-season test on Friday.
The same holds true later in the season in the competitive Southeastern Conference.
“We're going to do whatever we can, have whatever mindset we need to have in order to prepare to win,” said Young. “We have a great energy about us and we're ready to go to Philly and kill it.”
