Florida has been away from competition for the last 10 days prior to the opening round of the Gator Holiday Classic, and finally returns to the court and welcomes Alabama State, Robert Morris and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the O’Connell Center for the 20th annual event.
Robert Morris plays Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday, with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m., with the game between the Gators (8-3) and Alabama State slated for a 7:30 p.m. start.
Game times for Tuesday’s action are set for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
“Practice has been very intense and I think that our team has sensed the opportunity to get better,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “It’s been a great response coming off a disappointing loss. We’ve spent a lot of time on the court as well as time away to study and prepare for exams. Our focus has been trying to get better. We’ve had a level of consistency in our practices the past week that we haven’t seen all year. The individual and the collective effort have been present in practices and that’s really pleasing.”
The Gators entered the fall semester final exam period having lost two of their last three games, with both setbacks coming on the road, where the team is 0-3 on true away courts this season.
Florida’s next two games, however, are in the friendly confines of the O’Connell Center.
Florida is 5-0 at home this season, sporting a modest eight-game non-conference home winning streak dating back to last year. The Gators are 43-13 all-time at home under Butler, winning 77.0 percent of their games in the O’Connell Center.
“We haven’t been focused exclusively on preparing for our opponents in the tournament,” Butler said of the four-team field. “We’ve been cleaning up some things and making sure we’re paying attention to the details within our offense and defense. We have, however, constructed practices this week with our opponents in mind and will begin specific focus on Alabama State this weekend.”
Florida’s annual home tournament has traditionally featured some of the nation’s finest teams and players. At least one team from the four-team field has earned an NCAA Tournament berth in 14 of the 19 years, including the 1994 field that featured all four future NCAA selections. Last year, Southern U. (which went 0-2 in the Gator Classic), competed in the “Big Dance.” A total of 31 alumnae competing in UF’s Gator Classic have gone on to play professional basketball in the WNBA.
Florida has won 15 of the previous 19 Gator Classic titles (the 2005 event featured only three teams and played a round-robin style tournament so no champion was declared) and has advanced to the championship game every year.
Ebonie Crawford, the lone senior on the 2010-11 team, will graduate on Sat., Dec. 18 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology. Former Gator letterwinner Sharielle Smith (2006-10) also completed her undergraduate requirements and receives on Saturday a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication - Production.
The Gators played their first 11 games over a 27-day span, logging 5,880 miles while traveling to the states of Maine, Rhode Island and Virginia. Florida’s hectic run ended on Fri., Dec. 10, when the team dropped a tough 69-54 decision at Hampton. The Gators then hit the books for a 10-day period for final exams before returning to the court for the Gator Holiday Classic, Dec. 20-21.
Jordan Jones is the only Gator averaging a double-figure scoring effort, recording 10.8 points per game, hitting a team-leading 25 three-pointers and playing 33.3 minutes per outing.
Azania Stewart is Florida’s leading rebounder with 7.2 per game and also leads the club with a 54.5 percent field goal mark and 17 blocked shots and is second on the team with 8.1 points per game.
Lanita Bartley is dishing 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals, while finding her way to the free throw a team-best 38 times.
In the last two games, Jones appears to have found her long-range touch, hitting 6-of-13 (46.2%) from beyond the three-point arc and contributing 12.0 points per game. Youngsters Jennifer George and Deaundra Young have collected 6.0 and 5.5 rebounds respectively over the last two games, with George adding 8.0 points and hitting 6-of-10 from the floor.
Eight of Florida’s 11 games this season have been decided by 10 points or fewer, with four being six-point or less differences.
Tournament & Game Day Information
** Gator Holiday Classic - Dec. 20 & 21 **
Stephen C. O’Connell Center (12,000) - Gainesville, Fla.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Robert Morris vs. Texas A&M-CC – 5 pm – LIVE STATS
Florida vs. Alabama State – 7:30 p.m. – LIVE STATS
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Alabama State vs. Robert Morris OR Texas A&M-CC – 2 pm – LIVE STATS
Florida vs. Robert Morris OR Texas A&M-CC – 4:30 pm – LIVE STATS
