In the minds of coach Amanda Butler and her players, the Southeastern Conference is its own season.
Yet with two SEC games under its belt, Florida (9-6, 1-1 SEC) is making sure not to get ahead of itself. Tonight’s game against Ole Miss (11-4, 1-1 SEC) is no exception — the Rebels are 5-1 over their last six games, the lone loss coming to then-No. 11 Kentucky on the road.
Ole Miss has received strong play from senior Tia Faleru, who comes into Gainesville averaging 16.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
"We’ve got to be really, really diligent about boxing her out and just making sure when there is rotation that we communicate so that she doesn’t go unchecked," Butler said. "She can hurt you in a lot of different ways."
Luckily for Florida, Faleru’s game is focused on playing in the post. The Gators have struggled defending the three-point line as of late, losing close games to Eastern Washington and LSU due to sharp three-point shooting from opposing guards.
Florida enters tonight’s contest surrendering just 23.3 of its 60.5 points per game in the paint to opponents, a product of the influx of height that freshmen Haley Lorenzen and Brooke Copeland have provided for a team that has sorely missed height in recent seasons.
"I think that they’ve improved tremendously," Butler said of the freshmen. "You hope to see your freshmen on that upward trajectory and I think that both of them — and Dee (Anderson) as well — we’re just seeing new parts of their game and their confidence will grow and build as we go."
Copeland also boosts Florida’s three-point shooting, which has struggled as of late. The Gators come into tonight’s game averaging 32 percent from beyond the arc.
"I know I can shoot," Copeland said, "but just being able to do that in a big game like that is a different story."
Defensively, the team has excelled, an evolution that can be attributed to the defensive-minded training camp dubbed Camp Hector the team held in the offseason.
"We’ve got to find things we can consistently rely on, and I think the way we rebounded at Auburn and the way we defended at Auburn are things that we feel like we can hang our hat on," Butler said. "If we knock down shots, then great. That’s going to go hand-in-hand with great defense."
Game Info
Location: O’Connell Center (Gainesville, Florida)
Tipoff: 7 p.m.
TV: FSN/Sun Sports/ESPN 3
Series Record: Florida leads 19-14
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
Brooke Copeland attempts a three-point shot during Florida's win against Stetson.
