Thursday's game is Florida's 20th and final regular-season road game.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Florida plays its 20th game on the road this season, this time traveling to Knoxville to play Tennessee on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET
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The game will be televised by SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Deb Antonelli calling the action.
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The matchup is the second this season between the Gators and Lady Vols, who earned the 84-75 decision in Gainesville on January 26.
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Florida is playing is final regular-season away game and its second-to-last game before the SEC Tournament. The Gators play host to Georgia on Sunday in the regular-season finale.
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Twice the Fun
- During the 2016-17 season's 16-game SEC schedule, the Gators will play Georgia (their 'permanent' rival), Tennessee and Texas A&M twice.
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Alma Mater/SEC Coaching Pride
- Seven of the 14 SEC head coaches have a degree from an SEC school, however, Florida's Amanda Butler and Tennessee's Holly Warlick are the only two SEC head coaches currently at the helm of the program of which they once played.
- Arkansas' Jimmy Dykes returned to coach his alma mater, but naturally didn't play for the women's hoops team.
- Georgia's Joni Taylor played college ball at Alabama.
- Kentucky's Matthew Mitchell is a graduate of Mississippi State.
- LSU's Nikki Fargas starred at Tennessee.
- Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer is a Texas A&M graduate.
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Florida vs. Tennessee: The Series
- 53-Game Series: UF trails 4-49 (UF Home: 2-20; Away: 2-21; Neutral: 0-8)
- Last Meeting: Jan. 27, 2017 in Gainesville - Tennessee used an 18-2 run during the first quarter and the Gators never fully recovered, falling 84-75.
- Trend: Five of the last six games have been decided by single digits, including the last time the teams played in Knoxville, where UF stunned the Lady Vols, 74-66.
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Local Flavor
- UF Head Coach Amanda Butler and junior Brooke Copeland are natives of the Volunteer State.
- Butler hails from Mt. Juliet, located 165 miles from Knoxville. Her parents, Steve and Barbara Butler, still reside in Mt. Juliet.
- Copeland is from Cleveland, Tenn., located just 84 miles from Nashville (about a 1:17 drive).
- Copeland graduated from Bradley Central High School, the same place as former Lady Vol All-American Brittany Jackson.
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What Just Happened
- On Sunday, Florida lost at Kentucky, 67-48, and dropped its second consecutive contest.
- Tennessee halted a two-game skid with a 59-46 home win against Arkansas.
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Gator Watch
- In addition to leading the Gators in scoring with 18.6 points per game (19.1 ppg in SEC games), Ronni Williams also leads the squad in rebounding (7.9 pg) and free throw percentage (73.4%) and is second for assists (63) and field goal percentage (53.8%).
- With her 43-point, 14-rebound effort against Vanderbilt (Jan. 29), she became the first SEC player to drop 40 and 10 since in a game since the 2003 season!
- Williams became the 24th Gator to score 1,000 career points, doing so on Dec. 3 vs. Long Beach State.
- She became the 15th Gator to collect 700 career rebounds, eclipsing the mark on January 5 at LSU.
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Williams in Rare Gator Company
- Ronni Williams led UF in scoring as a sophomore and junior and is doing so again this season.
- Only two other Gators have been the Gator's leading scorer in three different seasons: U.S. Olympian Tammy Jackson led the team in 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1984-85; and WNBA star Merlakia Jones was UF's leading scorer in 1991-92, 1993-94 and 1994-85.
- Williams will become the first Gator ever to lead the team in scoring in three consecutive seasons.
- Williams could become the first Gator ever to lead the SEC in scoring. Entering Thursday's game, she sits atop the all-games and SEC-only games list.
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Who's Hot
- Over the last THREE games, Ronni Williams is averaging 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.
- In the last THREE games, freshman Delicia Washington is averaging 14.0 points, connecting on 4-of-7 three-pointers for 57.1 percent.
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Notes from Florida's Last Game: lost at KENTUCKY, 67-48 (Feb. 19)
- Four Gators netted a double-figure scoring effort paced by Delicia Washington's 14 points but it wasn't enough as Florida dropped a 67-48 decision to Kentucky.
- Kentucky used a handful of mini runs and Florida was able to counter most of them and get back within two points. The Gators has just finished whittling a 10-point deficit down to two, 31-29, early in the second half.
- That's when the Wildcats used a 15-4 run and took a 47-33 lead with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter.
- The teams traded buckets for the next several minutes into the fourth quarter and Florida wouldn't counter, as the Wildcats led by as many as 22 in the final frame in route to their fourth straight win.
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| Stat Comparisons (All Games) |
| Stat Check |
Florida |
Tennessee |
| Record |
13-14 |
17-10 |
| FG% |
44.9% |
43.4% |
| 3FG% |
27.3% |
34.2% |
| FT% |
66.4% |
75.2% |
| Points Per Gm |
71.7 |
73.9 |
| Points Allowed |
68.4 |
65.6 |
| FG% Defense |
38.8% |
38.6 |
| 3FG% Defense |
33.5% |
28.2% |
| Scoring Margin |
68.4 |
65.6 |
| Reb Margin |
+5.5 |
+3.2 |
| Assists PG |
14.9 |
14.9 |
| Turnover Margin |
-1.8 |
-0.7 |
| Steals PG |
9.0 |
6.3 |
| Blocks PG |
4.2 |
3.9 |
| Stat Comparisons (SEC Games, ONLY) |
| Stat Check |
Florida |
Tennessee |
| Record |
4-10 |
8-6 |
| FG% |
42.2% |
42.7 |
| 3FG% |
28.6% |
31.6% |
| FT% |
68.1% |
31.6% |
| Points Per Gm |
67.5 |
70.5 |
| Points Allowed |
73.8 |
66.5 |
| FG% Defense |
42.4% |
40.7% |
| 3FG% Defense |
28.6% |
26.4% |
| Scoring Margin |
-6.3 |
+4.0 |
| Reb Margin |
+4.0 |
+0.1 |
| Assists PG |
12.5 |
14.2 |
| Turnover Margin |
-4.0 |
-0.6 |
| Steals PG |
7.1 |
5.9 |
| Blocks PG |
3.1 |
3.5 |
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What's Next for the Gators
- UF returns to Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and plays host to Georgia in the final regular-season game for both teams.
- The game will be televised by ESPNU with Jenn Hildreth and Sue Bird calling the action.
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Game Day at a Glance
- Who: Florida (13-14, 4-10 SEC) at Tennessee (17-10, 8-6 SEC)
- Where: Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678) * Knoxville, Tennessee
- When: Thu., February 23 * 7 pm ET
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Game Notes:
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Game Coverage & More!
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Opening Tip
- Florida plays its 20th road game of the season.
- Thursday's game is Florida's final regular-season road game.
- This is the second meeting between UF and UT, which won the 84-75 decision on January 26 in Gainesville.
- Three of the Gators' four SEC wins have been on the road.
- Eight of UF's last 10 games have been decided by 10 points or less.
- Florida is 4-8 in games decided by 10 points or less this season, including 3-6 in SEC games.
- UF's Ronni Williams is the No. 1 scorer in the SEC overall and No. 1 in league games. Her highlight game is a 43-point, 14-rebound performance against Vanderbilt (Jan. 29).
- Williams is 2 points shy of the 1,400th of her career.
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Gator Pronunciations:
- DYANDRIA Anderson: dee-ANN-dree-uh
- DELICIA Washington: duh-LEE-shuh
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