Florida Hosts Saturday Matinee Against Samford

Florida (2-0) is back at the O’Connell Center as they welcome Samford (1-2) for a matchup on Saturday at 2 p.m.

 Team Overview

Florida

• Florida started the season with a 2-0 record for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
• Zada Williams and Kiara Smith have been a spark for the Gators this season. Williams is leading the way with 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Smith is second-in-command as she is racking up 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
• Freshmen Brylee Bartram and Lavender Briggs are having an incredible first season with Florida. Both are averaging double figures in the scoring column. Briggs is scoring 11.0 per game while Bartram is tallying 10.0. Bartram is currently leading the team in three-point percentage with .353. Briggs is second on the team in assists with 5.0 per game.
• The Gators claimed a 71-54 victory in their home opener against Longwood.
• Freshman Lavender Briggs recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career (16 points, 10 rebounds).
• Head Coach Cam Newbauer claimed his 100^th victory.

Samford

• Head Coach Carly Kuhns enters her first season at Samford.
• The Bulldogs are 1-2 to start the season.
• Sarah Myers is playing in her first season with Samford after transferring from Maryland. She is currently leading the team with 17.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Myers was the leading scorer in her first three games with the Bulldogs.
• Charity Brown is second-in-command for the Bulldogs. She returns after sitting out most of last season with an injury. Since her return to the court, Brown has racked up 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
• Samford fell to Troy 74-65 on Tuesday.
•        Sarah Myers led the way with 22 points.

Game Series

•  Florida last hosted Samford at the O’Connell Center on Dec. 28, 2011. The Gators won the game 81-56.

History of the Head Coaches

•  Kuhns was an assistant under Newbauer when he was the head coach at Belmont.
•  The game on Nov. 16 will be the first game both coaches are on opposite benches.

Season Stat Leaders

                    Florida                                                                                                Samford

Points

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Zada Williams (14.5 per game)  

Photo Credit: Samford Athletics

Sarah Myers (17.7 per game)

                                                                       

                                                                              

Rebounds

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Kiara Smith (8.5 per game)

Photo Credit: Samford Athletics

Sarah Myers (7.7 per game)

                                                                   

                                                                                         

Assists

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Kiara Smith (5.5 per game) 

Photo Credit: Samford Athletics

Charity Brown (4.3 per game)

                                                               

                                                      

                                                     

                                                                                        

Steals

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Kiara Smith (3.5 per game)   

Photo Credit: Samford Athletics

Samantha Fitzgerald (1.7 per game)

                                                            

                                                        

Blocks

Photo Credit: Samford Athletics

Sarah Myers (0.7 per game)

                                                             

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Lavender Briggs,
Nina Rickards
(0.5 per game)

                                                 

Florida Welcomes Longwood to O’Connell Center

After a comeback victory against Grambling State, Florida (1-0) returns to Gainesville for the first home game of the season at the O’Connell Center.

The Gators welcome the Lancers from Longwood (0-1) as part of the next six home games on their schedule. The teams will tipoff on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Exactech Arena.

The first victory at home could also be the 100^th win for Head Coach Cam Newbauer.

Florida recently captured its first home game of the season at Grambling State. The Gators propelled in the fourth quarter to claim an 84-38 victory over the Tigers. Kiara Smith and Zada Williams combined for 32 points. Smith also led the team in rebounds with a total of eight in the game. Freshman Nina Rickards had an outstanding first collegiate game racking up 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Longwood is coming off a 93-53 loss on the road at James Madison. The Lancers were led by freshman Kyla McMakin who finished her first game with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds. Two of Longwood’s returning players had an outstanding first game back. Dayna Rouse, a member of the 2019-20 Preseason All-Big South First Team, scored 13 points to begin her senior season. Tra’daya Smith also joined the double-digit scoring club after posting a career-high 11 points.

Sunday’s game will mark the second meeting for the two teams. 

The last time Florida and Longwood met was in 2014 at the O’Connell Center. The Gators claimed a 91-46 win over the Lancers in that game.

Previous Game Stat Leaders

Florida

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Kiara Smith (16 pts, 8 rebs, 6 asts, 3 stls)

Photo Credit: Florida Athletics

Zada Williams (16 pts, 5 rebs, 1 stl)

Longwood

Photo Credit: Longwood Athletics

Kyla McMakin (17 pts, 5 rebs)

Liberty Hosts ETSU for First Home Game of the Season

Liberty (1-0) returns to the Vines Center for the 2019-20 home opener against ETSU (0-1) on Friday at 5 p.m.

The Lady Flames look to win their second consecutive game of the season. The last time Liberty started the season with a 2-0 record was during the 2015-16 season.

Liberty captured its first win of the season with a 67-48 victory at Norfolk State on Tuesday. Ashtyn Baker had a career night as she led Liberty with 19 points. The 5-6 junior guard scored all five field goals from the 3-point line resulting in a new career high in triples. Emily Lytle (12) and Bridgette Rettstatt (10) also finished the game as double-figure scorers. Keyen Green, who missed last season due to injury, scored nine points while leading the team with 11 rebounds.

ETSU began the season with a 72-68 loss at home against Tennessee. Erica Haynes-Overton was a dominant force in the game, scoring a career-high 41 points. The 5-5 junior guard also matched career highs in rebounds (10) and 3-pointers-made (3).

The Buccaneers lead the Lady Flames 7-6 in the overall series. The two teams last met on Dec. 4, 2018, in Johnson City, Tennessee. Liberty came out on top with the 88-76 victory at Brooks Gym. 

Previous Game Leaders
Liberty

Photo Credit: Liberty Athletics

Ashtyn Baker (19 pts, 2 rebs, 3 asts)

ETSU

Photo Credit: ETSU Athletics

Erica Haynes-Overton (41 pts, 10 rebs, 1 ast, 7 stls)

2019-20 Women’s College Basketball Preview (11/5/2019)

Liberty at Norfolk State

Liberty begins its first game of the season on the road as it travels to take on Norfolk State in Echols

Hall on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Lady Flames finished the 2018-19 season with a 16-16 record, including a second-place finish in the 2019 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. 

Nine out of the 15 players from last year’s squad are returning for Liberty. Emily Lytle and Bridgette Rettstatt will be the key contributors for the Lady Flames this season. Both players were named to the ASUN All-Conference Preseason Team. Last year, Lytle led the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game while Rettstatt was the leading rebounder as she posted an average of 7.0 per game. Liberty will also have Keyen Green back after she sat out the 2018-19 season with an injury. The redshirt junior forward was named the Big South Player of the Year in 2018.

Norfolk State finished last season 17-15 and runner’s up in the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament. Leading scorer La’Deja James will be playing in her final year with the Spartans. The 5-foot-8 guard scored 13.3 points per game and drained 65 out of 81 shots from the charity stripe during the 2018-19 season. James was recently named to the MEAC Preseason Second Team.

Liberty has won seven out of the eight meetings against Norfolk State. Both teams last met at the 2018 Christmas City Classic in Bethlehem, Pa. The Spartans took a 66-53 victory and snapped the Lady Flames’ six-game winning streak in the series.  

Florida at Grambling State

The Florida Gators are ready to kick off the 2019-20 season with a road game at Grambling State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Last season, the team set a second-best program record for the most three-pointers made in a season with 230 overall. Florida also advanced to the second round of the 2019 Southeastern Conference tournament, the first postseason victory since Head Coach Cam Newbauer took over.

 Zada Williams and Kiara Smith are expected to be key contributors this season after the departure of Funda Nakkasoglu and Delicia Washington. Williams finished the 2018-19 season with 8.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The redshirt senior forward also shot a leading field goal percentage of .476. Smith tallied 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. One of her highlights from the previous season, was becoming the team leader in assists (3.4 per game) and steals (1.5 per game). The Gators will be without Danielle Rainey this season after sustaining an injury in the offseason. She averaged 8.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season.

Grambling State ended the 2018-19 season in the semifinals of the Southwestern Athletic Conference semifinals and a 16-16 overall record.

Shakyla Hill and Jazmin Boyd were the top two leading scorers in the previous season. Now that both players have graduated, the Tigers will look to one player to fill in the void. Justice Coleman returns for her third season with Grambling State. Last season, the 5-10 guard was ranked No. 2 in points per game (6.4) and No. 3 in rebounds per game (3.3).

The teams will tipoff against each other for the first time at Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.