Florida Gators

TEMPE, Ariz. – Florida travels the 2,030 miles to Tempe, Arizona, to compete in the Arizona State Classic, Dec. 3 and 4.
 
The Gator's first-round opponent is Long Beach State, with tip-off scheduled for approximately 4:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. MT. It will begin 30 minutes following the conclusion of the game between the hosting Sun Devils and Boston U. that gets underway at 2 p.m. ET/12 Noon MT.
 
Quick Scout on The Beach

• The Beach won their first three games of the season but have dropped their last three (at San Francisco, vs. Duke and at Southern California) entering the ASU Classic.
• Florida won a three-point thriller the only other time these two teams played - at the Pyramid back on Dec. 1, 2002.
• The Gators have played just four games against teams from the currently alignment of the Big West Conference and sport a 2-2 overall record. The most recent match up was on Dec. 14, 2003 against Santa Barbara - a 75-49 Gator win in Gainesville.
• Long Beach State is the preseason favorite to win the Big West Conference and 49ers junior Raven Benton was a preseason First Team All-Conference Selection.
• The Beach are a stellar defense unit and have already amassed 73 steals – ranking among the nation's best.
• LBSU is averaging 17 offensive rebounds per game.
• The Beach have totaled 52 three-pointers through six games – compared with UF's 23 treys.

 
1,000-Point Watch

• Senior Ronni Williams enters Saturday's game with 994 career points, six shy of the 1,000-point milestone. It will be the 99th game of her career.
• The last Gator to top the plateau was Kayla Lewis (2010-12, 2013-15), who did so on Feb. 8, 2015 against Tennessee. Lewis ended her career with 1,063 points.
• There have been a total of 23 Gators who have scored 1,000-plus points.

 
Coming Home

• Gator senior Simone Westbrook is a native of Chandler, Arizona, located just 17 miles from Tempe.
• Unfortunately, she won't suit up this weekend after tearing her right ACL in August.
• Westbrook isn't the only Gator who has had the chance to see extra family and friends in the stands this year: freshmen Sydney Searcy and Delicia Washington played approximately 30 miles from their respective hometowns when the team played South Alabama in Jacksonville; and junior Brooke Copeland was rooted on during UF's game at Chattanooga when the Gators played at UTC, just a short drive from Cleveland, Tenn.

 
Half Way Home

• Wednesday's game against Wofford was Florida's sixth of a season-opening 12-game road trip due to the $64.5 million renovations being done to Exactech Arena at the O'Connell Center.
• The Gator's first home game of the season will be on Dec. 28 against Southeastern Louisiana.

 
Three Games in Five Days: Underway!

• Saturday's game marks the second of a three-game run over a five-day span that began on Wednesday when the Gators defeated Wofford, 74-51, in Ocala, Fla.
• The Gators will depart Gainesville on Friday morning, play Long Beach State on Saturday and then either Arizona State or Boston U. on Sunday, before flying home on Monday.
• This five-day run will encompass approximately 4,136 miles.

 
Three Games in Six Days: Check!

• Florida just completed a similar run that spanned six days, however, it involved three different states.
• The Gators defeated Temple on Sat., Nov. 19, played at Arkansas State on Tue., Nov. 22 and capped the trip with a tough loss at Northwestern on Fri., Nov. 25.
• The round-trip mileage for the Gators was 2,479.

 
Last Time Out: Florida 74, Wofford 51 (Nov. 30 in Ocala, Fla.)

• Florida opened Wednesday's game against Wofford with a 21-5 run and never looked back as the Gators posted a convincing 74-51 win against the Terriers at the College of Central Florida's Patriot Gym.
• Senior Ronni Williams, who finished with a career-high 26 points along with 11 rebounds, scored UF's first six points and assisted on its next bucket that fueled the game-opening 10-2 run.
• Wofford connected on a three, before the Gators came right back with 11 straight points – the first five from Brooke Copeland and the rest from Williams, as Florida's lead continued to grow.

 
Terrific Gator Trio

• Eleanna Christinaki, Haley Lorenzen and Ronni Williams have been UF's top three scorers in all except one game this season.
• All score in very different ways!
• Christinaki, a sophomore, is a guard who can shoot from anywhere on the court, is a fantastic passer (led UF in assists last year) and can create her own shot. She is contributing 20.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
• Lorenzen, a junior, has a great rapport with fellow frontcourt member Williams and knows how to get her the ball. Coach Butler stated that Lorenzen had extended her shooting range and Lorenzen backed that up by hitting the first three-pointer of her career during the win against Temple (Nov. 19) and converted one trey in both of the next two games! Entering the season, Lorenzen had not even attempted a three-pointer. She is averaging 14.2 points and 5.7 rebounds.
• Williams, the lone four-year senior, runs the floor like a guard and has been seen on numerous occasions snaring a defensive rebound, dribbling the length of the court and sinking the layup. Williams, who has been UF's leading scorer each of the last two years, is averaging 16.2 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds. She has three double-doubles this year; 16 in her career.

 
 
Gator Pronunciations:

• DYANDRIA Anderson: dee-ANN-dree-uh
• ELEANNA CHRISTINAKI: L-ee-on-uh chris-tin-OCK-ee
• Sydney SEARCY: SIR-see

 
Game Day at a Glance

• Who: No. 19/23 Florida (5-1) vs. Long Beach State (3-3)
• When: Sat., December 3 - ~4:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. MT (30 minutes after game 1)
• Where: Wells Fargo Arena (14,198) * Tempe, Arizona
• What: Arizona State Classic, Dec. 3-4
• Game 1: No. 24 Arizona State (3-2) vs. Boston U. (1-5) at 2 p.m. ET/12 p.m. MT
• Sun., Dec. 4: game times are 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET (ASU will play the late game)

 
Game Notes

• Florida [direct link]
• Long Beach State [direct link]

 
Game Coverage & More!

• Radio: none in Gainesville due to local coverage of Gator football in the SEC Championship game
• Internet Audio: LIVE thru FloridaGators.com (FREE) with Adam Schick & Brittany Davis [direct link]
• Television: none
• Streaming Video: Pac-12.com - link posted on FloridaGators.com [direct link]
• Internet Scoring: LIVE link posted FloridaGators.com [direct link]

 
Opening Tip

• Florida will play games in the state of Arizona for the fourth and fifth times in program history. Ironically, none of the prior three games played in The Grand Canyon State were against teams from the state of Arizona.
• The last time the Gators played in the state of Arizona was back on March 18, 2006, when UF lost to New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Tournament played in Tucson.
• Gator senior Simone Westbrook is a native of Chandler, Arizona, located just 17 miles from Tempe. Unfortunately, she won't suit up this weekend after tearing her right ACL in August.
• The two tournament games are the last the Gators will be playing outside the state of Florida during the calendar year!

 
 
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