GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Florida women's basketball team returns to action Sunday when it wraps up its season-long four-game homestand with a matinee matchup with the Florida A&M Lady Rattlers. Tip off from Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is slated for 2 p.m. ET as the Gators look to earn a victory in their third straight game.
Game Notes (Florida) |
Game Notes (Florida A&M)
Sunday marks the final day of Holiday SZN with Florida women's basketball which is highlighted by the Cards to Santa promotion. Kids are invited to write and decorate their letters to Santa and the delivery to the North Pole will be taken care of by Florida Athletics. Fans can receive free admission to the game by donating a toy to Toys for Tots and there will also be a holiday display in the Tom and Jane Johnson Family Atrium and one (1) lucky fan can enter to win a Christmas tree. In addition to the Holiday SZN hoopla, it will also be a Sundae Sunday at the O'Dome as fans are invited to enjoy a free sundae following the game.
Florida has notched consecutive wins for the first time this season beginning with a win over Texas Tech and most recently defeating Bethune-Cookman this past Wednesday. In their matchup with the Wildcats, the Gators trailed early but fought back to carry a lead into the half and pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring Bethune-Cookman 21-14 in the frame. For the second-straight game four Gators racked up double-figure point totals as
Delicia Washington paced the group with her eighth career double (16 points, 10 rebounds).
Zada Williams scored a career-high 15 points,
Ariel Johnson recorded 12 while
Kristina Moore added 11 to round out UF's double-digit point scorers. Rebounding and defense were also key factors in the Gators' win, as it held Bethune-Cookman to just 53 points and won the battle of the boards, 48-38.
After combining to score 30 points against Texas Tech, Florida's freshmen trio again impressed against Bethune-Cookman this time scoring 25 combined points as Johnson, Moore and
Emanuely de Oliveira all made significant contributions. Two of the three rookies appear off the Florida bench which has outscored its opponent's bench, 53-9 over the last two games.
Florida A&M has opened the season 1-5 but is off the heels of its first victory of the season as it earned a edged Edward Waters College 70-64 in its most recent action. South Alabama transfer Candice Williams leads the way for the Lady Rattlers averaging 13.0 points per game while Mya Moye checks in with a 9.8 points per game average and leads the club with 11 made three-pointers. Williams has played in just three games so far, but suited up in FAMU's most recent action, scoring 16 points and adding seven rebounds. Much like the Gators, the Lady Ratters have a new-look roster in 2018-19 as they welcome back just three players from last season's team that finished 8-24 overall and fell in the MEAC Tournament semifinals. The Lady Rattlers are under the direction of 11
th year head coach LeDawn Gibson who has over 140 wins in her tenure at FAMU and won over 330 games as a high school coach at Winter Haven High school.
Sunday marks the 14th meeting between the programs as Florida holds an 8-5 advantage in the series that dates back to 1980. The Gators have claimed five of the last six meetings and have an overall margin of victory of +18 in their wins while losing by an average of 5 points in their setbacks to the Lady Rattlers. UF is 25-8 all time against MEAC squads as it registered its 25
th win over the conference this past Wednesday vs. Bethune-Cookman.
Following its matchup with Florida A&M, the Gators will break for a week before they next take the court at Ohio State on Sunday, Dec. 16. Sunday marks Florida's last home game until Dec. 30 as the Gators take on the Buckeyes before heading to compete in the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas.
Notables
- Freshmen have combined to score 55 points in the last two games, accounting for 40 percent of Florida's scoring.
- The Gators have outrebounded their opponent in each of their two victories, averaging 47.5 rebounds in the two wins.
- Ariel Johnson has scored 26 points in the last two games; in the six games leading up to Texas Tech she had score a total of 24 points.
- Florida's bench has outscored its opponent's bench 53-9 in the last two games.
- Delicia Washington's 8.4 rebounds per game leads the team and leads the SEC in terms of rebounding from the guard position. She ranks 17th nationally in rebounding at her position and seventh in rebounding by guards among players from the Power 5 conferences.
- For the second time this season Florida will take on a roster that features a set of twins as sisters Jhakya and Keziah Dilworth both play for the Lady Rattlers. In the season opener, Florida took the Plentovich twins of Gardner-Webb.
- FAMU is the third and final program from the state of Florida that the Gators will battle this season.
- The Lady Rattlers took on Tennessee on Nov. 18, falling 31-96.
- The Gators tied their season high with 16 made free throws against Bethune-Cookman, shooting a superb 84.2 percent from the stripe.
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