GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Playing at home never felt so good! After a 12-game season-opening road trip, the Florida Gators played their first home game of the 2016-17 season and looked every bit as excited and fresh as their newly renovated arena sparkled and gleamed.
 
Senior Ronni Williams was honored in a pregame ceremony for topping the 1,000-career point plateau during the December 3 game against Long Beach State. She scored the first points in the newly renamed Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and put on a show for the Gator faithful, as she scored a career-best 34 points and led Florida to a 102-51 victory against Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday evening.
 
Early on, it looked like Williams was trying to net another 1,000 points during the actual game, scoring 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting in the first quarter alone and helping the Gators take a commanding 55-21 halftime lead.
 
Florida ended the first quarter with a 17-2 run for a 36-10 lead and never looked back en route to its second-largest margin of victory this season in its final non-conference game of the season.
 
All eight Gators who suited up during the game, scored, and all five starters recorded a double-digit offensive output.
 
Junior Haley Lorenzen posted the first double-double of her career, netting with 15 points and tying a career-best 10 rebounds.
 
Freshman Delicia Washington added 14 points with a career-best six steals, tied for the most by a Gator this season, while senior Tyshara Fleming tallied 11 points and eight rebounds and junior Dyandria Anderson had 11 points.
 
Freshman Sydney Searcy finished with nine points, while classmate Sydney Morang hit a three and collected five steals and junior Brooke Copeland added five points that included a three-pointer in her sixth consecutive game.
 
There's No Place Like Home

• The Gators opened the season with a 12-game road trip waiting for the completion of the $64.5 million renovations to be completed on their home arena.
• Leading up to Wednesday's home-opener, Florida completed 8,799 round-trip miles traveled via 13 bus trips, seven airplane flights, 11 different hotels and played 12 games over a 48-day span.
• Tonight was UF's seventh consecutive home win.
• UF improved to 34-9 all-time in home-openers and has won five straight, as well as 11 of its last 12 home-openers.
• The Gator's last home game was 305 days ago – Feb. 28, 2016 vs. Auburn

 
Individual Numbers of Note

• Ronni Williams scored a career-high 34 points (was 25 vs. Wofford, Nov. 30, 2016), the most by a Gator since Vanessa Hayden scored 36 against Oakland on November 16, 2001.
• Williams collected 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double this year and 17th of career
• Haley Lorenzen recorded her first double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds)
• Brooke Copeland converted a 3-pointer in the sixth consecutive game, as well as in 10th of 13 games
• Delicia Washington collected a career-high six steals (was four, twice); also tied for the most by a Gator this season (Anderson had 6 vs. South Alabama, Nov. 11)

 
Team Numbers of Note

• UF's 53 first-half points were its third-most at home in the first half of a game in program history (70 vs. Saint Francis, Dec. 20, 2015; 60 points vs. Stetson, Nov. 29, 1991)
• This was the first time this season five Gators scored in double-figures; and first time since February 18, 2016, against Vanderbilt
• Florida shot and made a season-best from the free throw line, 30-of-43
• SLU committed 33 turnovers, the third time this year an opponent has had at least 30 miscues
• Florida wore orange uniforms for the first time since December 28, 2007, when the Gators defeated Holy Cross, 66-52

 
Let's Go to the Video Tape

• Postgame Press Conference: UF Head Coach Amanda Butler, Ronni Williams and Haley Lorenzen
• Game Highlights [http://floridagators.com/watch/default.aspx?Archive=5123]

 
First-Time Florida Foes

• Southeastern Louisiana is one of five teams on UF's schedule that the Gators played for the first time
• The other first-time foes: Chattanooga, Northwestern, Wofford and North Carolina A&T.
• The Gators went 4-1 against those teams this year.

 
Updated Records

• Florida: 9-4
• Southeastern Louisiana: 2-9

 
Quick Quotes from the Court:
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler
"It was a great team performance. When we are that explosive and start the game that way to establish ourselves in the way that we did, then I think we're a great team and look exactly the way that we want to look. There were a lot of positives. It was exciting to be in this building and exciting to have such an amazing crowd that gave us so much energy. It was exciting to score 100 points and it's exciting now to start thinking about SEC play."
 

• WATCH the rest of Coach Butler's official press conference [http://floridagators.com/watch/default.aspx?Archive=5122]

 
Southeastern Louisiana Head Coach Errol Gauff
On handling Florida's pressure: "You know they are well coached. Coach mixed up her defenses- she started man-to-man, then she went to a full court press. I thought our girls handled it well, even though we turned it over against the press. We missed some opportunities to score against it, but we had good spacing overall. Coach recognized our weakness and moved to a 2-3 trap and they got some turnovers out of that. Her changing her defenses kept us guessing and all along they had Ms. Williams down there just working us on the offensive end."
 
On Ronni Williams: "Seeing her on tape, we knew Ronni Williams was one heck of a player. They list her at six foot, but she's the tallest six-foot person I've ever seen. We tried putting a bigger player on her, and she would just drive past her. Then we tried to put smaller people on her, and she played great in that post area, went and got offensive rebounds and dominated the paint. We had a tough night all night as long as she was in the game."
 
 
What's Next for the Gators:

• Who: Gators host Auburn (10-4)
• When: Sunday, January 1 at 2 p.m.
• Where: Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Fla.
• What: Southeastern Conference opener for both teams

Additional Hoopla for the Game:

• Chip and Dip Tray Giveaway – The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a Gators chip and dip tray to help bring in the New Year!
• Sunday Layup Line – All kids 12 and under will be able to participate in post-game layups on the court for 15 minutes.
• Kids Club – Kids Club members and their families receive free admission.
• Kids Korner – Check out great games and activities for kids in attendance, featuring poster making, tailgate games, face paint, and more!
• Enter to Win – Apple TV

 
 
Gator Pronunciations for this Release:

• DYANDRIA Anderson: dee-ANN-dree-uh
• TYSHARA Fleming: tie-SHEER-uh
• Sydney MORANG: mur-RANG (like meringue pie)
• Sydney SEARCY: SIR-see
• DELICIA Washington: duh-LEE-shuh

 
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