Tennessee was the only Southeastern Conference team to grab more rebounds than Florida last season.
However, the Volunteers were not the only squad that finished ahead of the Gators in the final conference standings, as Florida finished eighth in the league during the 2010-11 season.
While the Gators’ effort in the paint was solid, senior center Azania Stewart believes her position group can do more to win games this season.
“(We want to) just dominate,” Stewart said. “After a game’s finished, (we want) to say that we overplayed our opponent.”
In terms of crashing the boards, Florida was dominant at times last season.
In addition to ranking second in the SEC with 1,432 total rebounds, the Gators also trailed only the Volunteers with a plus-4.4 rebounding margin and 4.5 blocks per game.
Spearheading those efforts was Stewart, who led UF with 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest.
“Azania is someone — even as a freshman — that we’ve relied on to be someone who is solid, someone who’s consistent,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “She wants to be a lot more than just the reliable player or the good defender — she really wants to be an impact player.”
At SEC Media Day on Thursday in Hoover, Ala., Butler said strong post play was “essential” to her team’s success this season.
However, it will take more than just Stewart to achieve that.
One player that will have to assume an increased role is junior forward Jennifer George.
George’s second year in Gainesville saw her rank second on the team with 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game coming off the bench.
“She’s never really taken that responsibility before,” senior guard Jordan Jones said. “She’s never demanded the ball, she’s never said, ‘Hey, I’m open — give it to me.’”
However, Jones said that George has become more vocal this offseason, letting the guards know when they miss her on scoring opportunities in practice.
Florida was predicted to finish sixth in the preseason SEC media poll, trailing Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Vanderbilt.
In order to exceed those expectations, the Gators will have to maintain their rebounding prowess while upping the ante offensively.
“The teams that dominate the paint,” Butler said, “are generally going to be successful.”
Center Azania Stewart (13) said UF’s post players can build on last year’s strong rebounding effort.
