UF fifth-year guard Leilani Correa (23) is averaging 24.4 points per game in SEC playing heading into Thursday night's road date at Mississippi.
Correa Is Instant Offense Off Bench
Thursday, January 25, 2024 | Women's Basketball
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By: By Daniel Chaiet / Special to FloridaGators.com
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference doesn't dive into the action from the opening tip. Florida guard Leilani Correa likes to visually break down the first few moments of a game. By mentally taking in those opening minutes, she dissects the defense and gets a better feel for the flow. Her method, obviously, is working. Correa poured in 28 points against top-ranked South Carolina and is riding a two-game streak of 30 points in a win over Georgia, followed by 31 in Monday night's loss to Mississippi State.
Pretty impressive, considering those early observations are coming from the UF sidelines.
Yeah, that's right. Correa, the 6-foot super-scorer who is averaging 24.4 points in league play, doesn't start for the Gators. Leilani Correa
"I think I am playing better come off the bench," she said with a smile. "I think when I come off the bench I can analyze the other team for a few minutes of the game and see where I can get my shots from."
And she's getting to those spots.
The arrangement, thus far, has Correa putting up cray-cray offensive numbers. She's shooting nearly 49 percent from the floor in SEC play, a staggering 55.2 percent from the 3-point line (16-for-29) and 84 percent on a team-high 25 free throws.
"And, yes," UF coach Kelly Rae Finley said. "I do think she should be [SEC] Sixth Woman of the Year."
At Correa's current pace that probably would be a given, but for now the Gators (10-7, 1-4) are searching for ways to make Correa's offensive outbursts convert to more wins, with their next shot coming Thursday night at Ole Miss (13-5, 3-2).
UF has been hampered by an injury to 6-5 center Ra Shaya Kyle, which has put the Gators at a size disadvantage in the post. They had several players, including point guard Aliayh Matharu, sick and soldiering through the 89-77 Mississippi State loss, which the Bulldogs took over with a 10-point edge in the fourth quarter. Matharu was limited to just 20 minutes. Now comes a tough test on the road.
"We just have to keep putting in the work and not dwell on the loss, but instead learn from it," Correa said. "It's just the little details that we need to fix, and once we fix them, I think we will be good."
Meanwhile, Correa will continue to check in around the first media timeout and try to maintain her torrid scoring pace.
Leilani Correa elevates over the top-ranked Gamecocks on her way to a game-high 28 points.
Against the Bulldogs, she hit 11 of 27 field-goal attempts and four of seven 3-pointers. Correa is three-level scorer, outstanding at running the floor and her teammates know where to find her in open space in transition. She also excels in playing the passing lanes on defense, with her 12 steals in SEC play third-best on the team, several leading to run-out layups.
"I think she is just really comfortable on the court," Finley said. "She studies the game and her [basketball] IQ is very, very high and it is just paying off for her."
Correa, out of Manchester, N.J., came to UF by way of St. John's, where she was a first-team All-Big East selection as both a sophomore and junior, pouring in more than 1,000 points over her three seasons with the Red Storm.
In her first season with the Gators, Correa averaged 11.8 points on 40.5-percent overall and 32.5 from the 3-point line. She started six games, as the team went 19-14 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT.
In her '23-24 fifth year, Correa started the first nine games, with her reserve role beginning with a game at Gardner-Webb. As a backup in the eight games since, she's shooting 53.5 percent overall and 51.5 from the 3-point line. She's also at a team-high of 34 minutes a game in SEC play.
Correa has been given the kind of offensive freedom players can only dream about. In four of Florida's five SEC games, she's taken no fewer than 16 shots, including 27 against Mississippi State. They've been good shots, too.
"If I don't shoot the ball, then I am doing my teammates a disservice," Correa said. "I make sure that I am always talking to them and telling them where I am on the floor and they never want me to stop shooting, so I always do what I can."
Leilani Correa (23) is a true three-level scorer, equally adept on the attack, from mid-range or the 3-point line.
She credits her teammates for her success. Correa's presence as a leader on the court and her willingness to do anything to win mentality has made her a favorite in the locker room. Each game she surprises the Gators by bringing something new to the table.
"She has a different type of drive and focus," junior backup forward Eriny Kindred said. "She is definitely a leader and her energy bleeds to the rest of the team when she is on the court."
Being a role model and leader is not something new to Correa. As the oldest sibling with three younger brothers, she has never shied away from setting the standard. These important qualities have carried over to a program that prides itself on accepting players for exactly who they are.
Correa, in turn, has set a team-first example.
She'll continue to sit and soak in those opening few minutes. Then be turned loose.
"Leilani could start for us or she can come off the bench for us," Finley said. "She is going to do whatever our team needs and she gives me a lot of confidence as a coach to do whatever I think is best, so that is what we are going to do."
[Senior writer Chris Harry contributed to this report.]
