The wins are starting to pile up for the Gators.
On Friday, Florida opened its Gator Holiday Classic with an 86-56 victory over Tennessee State, earning its fourth win in as many games.
“Really, really, tough, physical, hard-fought game,” coach Amanda Butler said. “It didn’t look like the margin of victory in the game; it didn’t feel that way at all. That’s a lot of credit to Tennessee State and how hard they played and how ready their coach had them to play.”
For the second consecutive game, redshirt junior Kayla Lewis recorded a double-double, putting up 19 points and 13 rebounds. Lewis recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds in the first half alone.
Joining Lewis in recording a double-double on Friday night was sophomore Christin Mercer, who scored 18 points with 10 rebounds.
“I would say keeping your composure was pretty hard, at least for myself,” Mercer said. “The refs weren’t calling too many fouls and that’s something you have to play against in the game. It’s not just the other five opponents that are playing against you.”
With the victory over Tennessee State, Florida is now poised to win its fourth consecutive Gator Holiday Classic title when it faces FIU on Saturday night.
The Golden Panthers boast last year’s top-scorer in the nation in senior guard Jerica Coley, who averaged 26.3 points per game last season.
The burden is now on Butler to devise a scheme to contain her.
“She’s so good,” Butler said. “I have a ton of respect for her. I think she hung 36 or 38 on us last year. Very, very talented young lady. She had a very smooth game, very complete game and then she’s managed by a very good coach who has been winning ball games for a long time. We know we’re going to have our hands full. We know it’s going to be a very quick mental turn-around. Physically, we have to do everything we can to rejuvenate ourselves and get ready for the challenge tomorrow. But the most important thing is that we come away with the win. And we’ll figure out how to do that. I don’t know what that’s going to look like right now, but we’ll figure out a way to do that.”
Follow Gordon Streisand on Twitter @GordonStreisand
