The Gators rise and fall on the play of their guards — the deepest, yet least experienced, position on their roster.
UF’s women’s basketball team (14-9, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) has defined the terms balanced and well-rounded this season, but the backcourt has emerged as the leader in conference play.
Led by junior captain Jordan Jones, guards occupy four of the top five spots in scoring average during SEC games. But it won’t just be their offense that needs to shine when Ole Miss (9-11, 2-6 SEC) invades the O’Connell Center tonight at 7.
Senior guard Kayla Melson, ranked third in the SEC in scoring, field-goal percentage and assists, is the leader of the Rebels’ own effective guard combo that will test Florida’s defense.
“I really love the way she plays — she’s a fireball,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said of Melson. “She’s much more than a spark, but that’s probably where you can start in describing the way she plays.”
A dynamic scorer who also led the SEC in assists per game last season, Melson will challenge the Gators on the perimeter, Butler said. But against a player who prefers to penetrate as much as Melson, Florida’s real test will come inside.
Melson has attempted only three shots from beyond the arc this season and is most dangerous when she drives to the basket, often earning one of her 110 trips to the free-throw line.
The Florida defense will face a challenge in trying to clog the lane and prevent easy cutting opportunities because of Melson and guard Valencia McFarland, who Butler called one of the quickest guards in the SEC.
Guard/forward hybrids Deana Allen and Kayla Lewis have the combination of size and quickness that could provide the difference against Melson and McFarland.
But Lewis, who played against Kentucky and LSU after missing five games, is out again with a possible stress fracture in her tibia. Lewis sat out the Alabama and Mississippi State games with a boot on her leg.
Florida went 2-0 in those games and will try for a third straight win against teams at the bottom of the SEC standings tonight.
But after losing to an Alabama team that was previously winless in SEC play last year, the Gators have learned not to overlook an opponent, Butler said.
“It shows strides that we are making mentally … of really just being focused on Florida playing their best regardless of who we’re playing, or what their record looks like, or any of those things that really shouldn’t matter,” she said.
