GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Taking the court for the first of its three games in the week, the University of Florida women's basketball team kicks off its stretch run of the 2020-21 season with a special Monday night matchup on February 15 against No. 20 Kentucky at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network as the programs meet for the first time since the Gators pulled the upset at No. 13 Kentucky in Lexington last year.
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Following a daunting start to its conference slate in which it battled four ranked teams in its first five matchups, Florida has rebounded with three wins in its last five games.
The Gators last took the court this past Thursday at LSU where they earned their first victory in Baton Rouge since 2016 in an overtime thriller. Florida controlled the game for the most part leading for over 24 minutes and by as many as nine points, but the Tigers came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter and eventually force overtime. The Gators pulled away in the extra frame, outscoring LSU 16-9. UF's dynamic backcourt of
Lavender Briggs and Kiki Smith combined for 40 points as Florida notched its third SEC win and just its sixth win ever in Baton Rouge.
The Gators improved to 5-2 when Smith and Briggs combine for 40 points; the dynamic duo has combined for 40, 46, 33, 41, 40 and 62 points over their last six games.
Smith, the senior from Maryland, continues to build on what has been excellent season. After joining the team as a sophomore for the 2018-19 season, Smith has increased her scoring from 7.1 points per game that year, to 11.1 last season and all the way up to 16.8 in 2020-21. Smith, who ranks second on the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game, paces the team in assists and steals. Over her last six games, she's found another gear, averaging 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. In the span, she's scored over 20 points five times and in two games, Smith put together performances in which she led UF in points, rebounds, assists and steals in a single game. She added her team-best fifth double-double Thursday against the Tigers.
UF's freshmen class played well beyond their years at LSU as
Floor Toonders,
Jordyn Merritt and
Brynn Farrell combined for 19 points. Eight of those points belonged to the Netherlands native Toonders, who matched her career high with eight, earning her second-straight start. Farrell also matched her career best with six points off the bench while Merritt came up big in the overtime period, scoring four points. She finished the game with five points, four rebounds and a career-best four assists. UF's freshmen and sophomore classes combined to play 192 of the 225 minutes in the game and totaled 49 of the 73 points.
Three of UF's four remaining games will take place in a seven-day window as it hosts Alabama Thursday and travels to Missouri Sunday before wrapping up its regular season Feb. 28 at home vs. Georgia.
Monday marks UF's Play4Kay game, an initiative and vision created by legendary coach Kay Yow. Florida broke out its special pink jerseys for the first time this season last game at LSU and will don them again on Monday. Kay Yow's sister, Debbie Yow, was the head coach at both Kentucky (1976-80) and Florida (1983-85).
Kentucky, which was picked to finish second the SEC Preseason Poll, enters the matchup 14-5 and 7-4 in conference. UK has been dominant in home games, winning 11 of its 12, but is just 3-4 away from the Blue Grass State. SEC Preseason Player of the Year Rhyne Howard leads the Wildcats in scoring (19.0), rebounding (7.1) and assists (3.9) while 5-foot-5 guard Chasity Patterson averages 13.1 and Dre-Una Edwards, a sophomore forward, checks in at 10.8. Patterson, a Texas transfer, leads the SEC in steals with 64. Howard, who was recently added to the Wooden Award Late Season Watch List for national player of the year, has missed three games this year and also was unavailable when the teams last met in Lexington a year ago. UK, like UF, began its SEC slate taking on four AP Top 25 opponents in its first five games. Kentucky averages 7.5 three-pointers per game, the third-best mark among league teams.
UK has won three of its last four games including Thursday's 71-56 win over Tennessee as it bounced back after falling at Ole Miss in its previous matchup. The Wildcats are under the direction of first year head coach Kyra Elzy. She was previously named interim head coach following the abrupt retirement of Matthew Mitchell in November.
Kentucky holds a 32-26 edge in the all-time series but Florida has recorded a 13-11 advantage in matchups played in Gainesville. The Gators snapped a skid of five-consecutive losses in the series when they posted a 70-62 win over the No. 13 Wildcats in Lexington on Feb. 2, 2020. Earning its first victory over a top 25 opponent on the road since 2016, Florida trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but never quit as it shot 59 percent in the second on the way to its first victory at Kentucky since 2015.
NOTABLES
- Taking on its sixth ranked opponent, UF is in search of its first AP Top 25 win of the season. Florida earned two last year, one of which came against UK. Florida hasn't defeated Kentucky in Gainesville since Jan. 31, 2016 (W, 85-79 over No. 12 UK).
- Monday marks Florida's ninth nationally televised contest.
- Kentucky guard Rhyne Howard's mother, Rhvonja Smith, played for the Gators from 1987-1991. She scored 1,398 points and led the Gators in scoring in her junior and senior seasons. She also ranks 13th all time in total rebounds with 777.
- UF featured its fifth different lineup combination Thursday at LSU which included senior Danielle Rainey who made her 10th career start and first since the 2018-19 season (March 6, 2019 vs. Ole Miss).
- After missing the Gators' previous three contests due to health and safety protocols, fourth-year head coach Cam Newbauer returned to the sidelines Thursday just in time for a dramatic win at LSU. Associate head coach Kelly Rae Finley served as Florida's acting head coach for the three games during Newbauer's absence.
- Florida allowed LSU to score just 5 second quarter points, a season best and its 25 first half points conceded were its third fewest of the season. In seven of their 10 SEC games, the Gators have held their opponent below their scoring average. UF limited Missouri, which entered the game shooting 55 percent from the field on the season, to just 33.3 percent shooting. Florida held nationally-ranked Mississippi State to 15 points fewer than its scoring average coming in (83 to 68) and against Georgia it held the Lady Bulldogs to 10 points fewer (78 to 68). Against Auburn, it limited the Tigers to just 54 points and held them to just 27.9 percent shooting from the floor, the lowest field goal percentage it has allowed to an opponent all season.
- The Gators attempted a season-high 33 free throws Thursday at LSU.
- Freshman Floor Toonders earned her first career start Jan. 31 at Tennessee and started again at LSU. She is seeing more and more time and collected a career-best 13 rebounds against Missouri, including six o-boards.
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