BATON ROUGE, La. – Florida women’s basketball is slated to meet No. 11 LSU on Sunday, Feb. 20, for the second time this season at 4 p.m. ET in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be streamed live on SEC Network with Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings on the call. Kyle Crooks and Brittany Davis will handle radio responsibilities on 98.1FM/850AM WRUF.
The No. 17 Gators and No. 11 Tigers met earlier this season on Jan. 23 with the Gators taking a hard-fought 73-72 victory in Gainesville, Fla. The veteran presence, Kiara Smith led the Gators with an impressive 23-point, eight-assist, three-rebound and three-steal performance. Sophomore Jordyn Merritt contributed 16 points, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, three of which came in the third quarter to help keep the Gators within striking distance at four towards the end, in addition to seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Zippy Broughton came up big for UF, ending with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.
After three-consecutive road games, Florida returned home on Thursday evening to defeat Arkansas, 76-67, in Exactech Arena. The Gators’ defense shined, holding the Razorbacks, who average over nine threes a game, to just 1-of-13 shooting from long range. Kiara Smith led UF with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Florida now boasts 20 victories for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign when they ended 22-9. It is the fastest UF has reached 20 wins since starting 20-2 during the 2008-09 season.
After defeating Arkansas, Florida earned their 10th conference win of the season, marking the earliest the Gators have reached 10 wins in the SEC since the 2000-01 season when they began 10-3 in the league. Florida has also now won 10 SEC games for just the fourth time in program history. The last time UF won 10 conference matchups came during a 10-6 season in 2015-16. Six of Florida’s wins have come on the road in SEC play, the most road-SEC wins for the Gators since the 2000-01 season.
When UF gets to the free throw line, the Gators are a hard squad to beat. Florida leads the conference in free throw percentage, connecting on 74.6% of their attempts. This season, UF has shot over 75% in 14 games and over 90% in three contests. The Gators have shot over 75% in seven of their last nine outings.
After entering the top 25 for the first time since the 2015-16 season a week ago, the Gators continue to climb in the rankings, coming in at No. 17 in the AP poll and #21 in the Coaches poll this week.
LSU enters the contest boasting a 22-4 record (10-3 SEC) and is currently in a three-way tie for second in the conference with Florida and Tennessee. Most recently, the Tigers defeated Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., 71-59.
– #GoGators –
