The start of the Southeastern Conference Tournament means a clean slate, and the Gators are hoping they can return to the form they showed when SEC play opened in January.
Today at 2:30, No. 7-seeded Florida (14-15, 7-9 SEC) will get a rematch with 10th-seeded Auburn in the first round at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga.
UF began league play 2-0 with a win at Arkansas and at home against the Tigers (14-15, 5-11 SEC) in double overtime earlier in the season.
The Gators have fallen on hard times since, losing five of their last six contests — a stretch that included five top-25 opponents and a loss to unranked Alabama. The Tigers are coming off an upset win over No. 2 seed Kentucky.
The double-OT win UF escaped with at home on Jan. 7 against Auburn was a tale of two halves. Florida led by 18 in a dominant first half — holding the Tigers to five field goals while committing just six turnovers — before Auburn roared back and outscored the Gators 37-19 after intermission.
Three three-pointers from then-scoreless Steffi Sorensen in the second overtime gave UF just enough breathing room.
“We’ve just gotta look at the first half and draw a lot of confidence from the fact that we did play one of our best 20-minute segments of basketball against them and try to dwell on that positive,” UF coach Amanda Butler said.
Six-foot-4 center Azania Stewart was pivotal in the win, scoring 21 points, nailing a pair of free throws that sent the game into the second overtime while corralling 11 rebounds. Stewart, who hasn’t played in the last five contests because of a stress fracture in her left foot, has been listed as day-to-day. If she’s unavailable, the load will fall on freshman Jennifer George.
It’s been a good few days for the 6-foot George, who earned her first career double-double against Alabama on Sunday and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team on Tuesday.
Her recent success is a reflection of her added minutes, including 31 against the Crimson Tide, which came about after Stewart was sidelined.
“I don’t know about a blessing in disguise, because you never want to see your teammates get hurt,” George said of Stewart’s injury. “But it did force me to mature a little bit more in my game and forced me to be more accountable.”
Over the past five games, she led the team with seven rebounds per game and was second on the team with nine points per contest.
If George is going to have a chance at replicating her recent performance, she’ll need help against Auburn and 6-foot-7 KeKe Carrier.
One poor half nearly cost the Gators their last matchup against Auburn, so they’ll be focused on starting fast and playing a strong 40 minutes.
“We’ll learn from what’s happened this whole season,” George said. “If we get a lead, we’ll keep it.”
