While students and fans alike enjoyed time off during the holiday weekend, the Gators were hard at work. They played three games in five days and spent Thanksgiving on the road.
By the time conference play begins Jan. 2, Florida will have played in four tournaments as part of a plan by coach Amanda Butler to season her inexperienced team.
“You expect a certain level of adversity when you go on the road,” Butler said. “It puts a lot of pressure on our leaders to make sure we’re doing the things that we need to do to get ready. It’s just another way for this team to grow up.”
But Florida (5-1) is back in Gainesville and will take on Old Dominion (3-1) tonight at 7 in the O’Connell Center.
Butler said Old Dominion, which has also faced a challenging opening schedule, will test the resolve of the young Gators.
ODU recorded wins against Georgia Tech, Louisville and North Carolina A&T, and dropped a narrow two-point defeat to North Carolina State.
Led by senior guard Jasmine Parker (17.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 steals per game), ODU looks to avenge last season’s 81-67 loss to Florida on its home court.
The Monarchs have three players averaging double-digit scoring, presenting matchup problems on defense for their opposition.
“They’re good, I’ll tell you that. They’re really, really good,” Butler said. “Old Dominion is one of those teams that, year in and year out, you know if you have them on your schedule that you’re going to have a quality opponent. This Old Dominion team certainly fits that description.
“They are very talented, returning almost everyone from last season. (Coach) Wendy Larry always has her team very well prepared and dangerous in a lot of different ways. They have great balance, they’ve got scorers at every spot, they’re athletic and they do a really good job scoring in transition. I could go on and on about them.”
Butler said Florida has been concentrating on self-improvement to compensate for the lack of preparation time between games.
Home for only a short stint, Florida will again take to the road this weekend traveling to Providence, R.I., for the Brown Bear Classic at Brown University.
“To not have two or three days to prepare, but really less than 24 hours, it really tests us mentally, tests our focus and tests our leadership.” Butler said. “And those are all tests we need right now, that we need to respond to, that we need to grow from.
“There really is a limited amount of time that you can focus on your opponent, so your game better be really sharp. What makes us good as a team better be at the forefront of the gameplan.”
Butler said the keys to victory include making the most of possessions on the offensive end and getting ODU’s top players out of their comfort zones on defense.
Lately the Gators have had trouble knocking down easy attempts in the paint, which has led to poor shot decisions elsewhere. Florida, shooting 38 percent on the season, must execute better offensively to win, Butler said.
