On the eve of a new season, the women’s basketball team is hoping to recreate the magic it had at the start of last season.
With one exception.
Last season, the Gators dropped their season opener against Florida Gulf Coast 88-86 before going on a 15-game win streak.
“Going into that game, we probably thought that we were going to win it,” senior Steffi Sorensen said. “This game, we can’t go in there overconfident.”
Senior Sharielle Smith echoed Sorensen’s sentiment, and last year’s loss against the Eagles has the Gators on their toes.
“I feel like everybody plays their A game when they come play us anyways,” Smith said. “We’re not taking anyone lightly this year.”
Freshman Jennifer George said she hasn’t really heard anything about dropping the first game last season, but she said it’s simply an unspoken thing — not to take the first game for granted.
In an effort to more closely mimic game-time atmosphere, teammates have been cheering on the sidelines during practices and scrimmages. Practices themselves have become more competitive with players starting to factor in playing time as a consequence of their performance in practice.
Players and coaches said there have been indicators in practice that the first game is quickly approaching.
“The only thing we’ve been able to do to this point is practice to get ready to practice again,” coach Amanda Butler said. “You hope that our focus, our intensity, will go to a whole new level as we have a for-real game week now.”
She said there would be nervous energy in the first game, radiating from new players all the way to the seniors. But that’s the moment when Butler hoped the confidence and preparation stemming from practice would kick in to combat any nerves.
Perhaps not surprising, Butler anticipated the highest level of intensity coming from the seniors, who only have this season left to make an impact.
“Everything is my last, so of course it just motivates me even more to want to do well and want our team to do well,” Smith said.
George, who will be suiting up for her first Gators game, said she was nervous before the first practice, but Saturday will be even more nerve wracking.
Because it is the first game, players will finally have more of a feel of how they’re going to play this year and fans will get a glimpse of how the team could look this year.
And then there’s those different lineups Butler has mentioned synonymous with her team this year.
Sorensen believed the coaches would experiment with different combinations to see who does well at a certain spot or who performs in a certain scenario.
Smith said Butler would probably experiment, but that it all comes down to performance.
“If you go into the game and you’re performing then you might stay in longer,” Smith said. “But if you go into the game and you’re not performing, then you’re going to come over and be a cheerleader.”
