Without much height in the 2013 season, numerous teams attempted to create mismatches against the Florida women’s basketball team.
The tallest players barely reached 6-foot, and there was no legitimate post presence the players could throw the ball down low to.
However, the Gators received one of their strongest contributions last season from 5-foot-6 redshirt junior Cassie Peoples.
Originally a transfer student from Texas, Peoples sat out her first season at Florida due to NCAA rules for transfer students.
She trained with the Gators and practiced hard to further develop the game that she excelled at — ESPN ranked her the seventh best guard coming out of high school.
Peoples faced a significant setback when she tore her labrum in practice and spent the summer rehabbing to hopefully make a contribution to a UF squad that was already deep at the guard position.
So when she finally hit the court last season, Peoples was hoping to finally be past the injuries that plagued her for much of her basketball career.
Peoples, who was finally healthy, played in every game for the Gators and started the final 25.
A scrappy defensive player, Peoples led Florida in steals, and was often responsible for guarding the other team’s best player.
She had the second most assists of all Gators, proving that even if she wasn’t scoring herself she was positioning her teammates to score.
Peoples – along with the rest of the Gators – is eager to show that last year was no fluke. She’s itching to start the season, to highlight how her talent has evolved from last year.
"I think we’re all just anxious to get on the court," Peoples said. "We’ve been training all summer, we’ve been training this preseason and we’ve been working really hard.
"We’re ready to show people what that hard work is going to do for us in the game."
With the team missing last year’s leading scorer Jaterra Bonds, Peoples and redshirt senior Kayla Lewis are expected to handle a majority of the scoring for the guards.
To improve offensively, Peoples has worked on her shot, especially from the three-point line.
She converted nearly 30 percent of her attempts from downtown last season, a number that should improve with the practice she’s put in.
She’s also worked on getting stronger — spending extra time with Florida’s strength and conditioning coordinator Tyler Stuart — to avoid any more injuries that slowed the development of her talent.
"(Strength and conditioning coach) Tyler (Stuart)’s been really pushing our limits, seeing what our limits are, showing us that we have no limits," Peoples said. "It’s been tough but at the same time it’s been really great."
With training camp nearing the halfway point, Peoples has seen the hard work pay off.
The team has developed chemistry with incoming freshmen and transfer junior Carla Batchelor, and depth is now a strength for a team that was often labeled short and lacking in depth.
"It was very challenging last year not having a lot of depth," Peoples said. "We made it work, but this year we’re going to have a lot more people to work with.
"We’re going to be able to go in and out very interchangeably. We’re going to be able to play defense for longer periods of time at a high level. We’re going to be able to press the whole game and have fresh legs in there, because that does play a big role in your strategy and it plays a role in how effective you are on defense."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
Cassie Peoples drives down the court during Florida’s 81-76 loss to Missouri on Feb. 20 in the O’Connell Center.
