The University of Florida women’s basketball team (15-14, 6-10) is set to battle LSU (19-9, 9-7) Thursday night in SEC Tournament second round action from Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. ET as the 10th-seeded Gators and seventh-seeded Tigers meet after both teams earned a first round bye.
| SEC TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND |
| Date: | Thursday, March 5 |
| Time: | 6 p.m. ET |
| Matchup: | No. 10 Florida (15-14, 6-10) vs. No. 10 LSU (19-9, 5-7) |
| Location: | Bon Secours Wellness Arena (15,951) | Greenville, S.C. |
| TV: | SEC Network with Courtney Lyle & Carolyn Peck |
| Live Stats: | Here |
| Radio: | WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM with Kyle Crooks & Brittany Davis |
| Game Notes: | Florida | LSU |
The Gators, who received a first round bye for the first time in four years, wrapped up the regular season with 15 victories, their most since the 2015-16 campaign. Paced by the contributions of SEC All-Freshman team honoree Lavender Briggs’ 14.8 points per game, Florida played its way to seven conference wins including two AP Top 25 victories.
Briggs and veterans Kiki Smith and Zada Williams, all averaged double figures for the regular season. Smith, who averaged 7.1 points per game a season, has increased her scoring by 70 percent to 12.1 while Williams continues to score at an efficient rate with a team-best .622 field goal percentage.
The Utah native Briggs’ regular season points per game average was the highest by a Gator freshman since the 1991-92 season when the program’s eventual all-time leading scorer Merlakia Jones averaged 15.1 in 27 contests.
At 34.6 per contest, Briggs leads the SEC in minutes played while her backcourt mate Smith ranks second at 34.4.
The Gators are 14-15 all-time in the SEC Tournament’s second round. With a win Thursday, Florida would have its first victory in a second round matchup since 2014 when as a No. 5 seed it defeated No. 12 Mississippi State 71-67.
Of Florida’s 10 active players, just five of them played in last season’s SEC Tournament. Smith had the most success of that group averaging 7.5 points and 3 assists. Florida defeated Ole Miss 64-57 in the first round before falling to Missouri 87-56 in second round play in 2019.
The Gators and Tigers met back on Jan. 30 in Gainesville, and despite shooting a crisp 51 percent from the floor Florida came up short by a tally of 77-68. In a game that featured 15 lead changes and six ties, UF saw four players score 10 or more points.
In terms of the overall series, LSU holds a 30-14 edge and has claimed four-straight meeting. Thursday though will be just the second all-time meeting in conference tournament play. The squads also paired up in the 1995 SEC women’s basketball tournament in Chattanooga when LSU posted an 88-80 win in the first round.
LSU, finishing the conference slate with a 9-7 record, stood alone at seventh place in the regular season standings. The Tigers, who lost their Second-Team All-SEC talent Ayana Mitchell for the remainder of the season on Feb. 2, compiled an RPI of 33 for the regular season. Junior Khayla Pointer, also a Second Team All-SEC selection, has upped her game in Mitchell’s absence averaging a team-best 14.6 points per game. Six-foot-five center Faustine Aifuwa is also an impactful player for the Tigers as she averages 10.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. LSU, one of the league’s best defensive units, concedes just 59.1 points per game. The Tigers like the Gators are also very strong rebounders hauling in 40.1 points per contest. LSU makes just under three 3-pointers per game but gets to the free throw line with great frequency, ranking top 25 nationally in attempts from the charity stripe.
In her ninth season at LSU, head coach Nikki Fargas leads the Tigers. The Tennessee graduate has qualified for six NCAA Tournaments in Baton Rouge and posted a 72-36 record at UCLA before taking the post at LSU in 2011.
The winner of Thursday’s tilt will advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round for a matchup with the second-seeded Mississippi Bulldogs. Tipoff for the quarterfinal tilt is set for 6 p.m.
NOTABLES
- This is the 41st year of the SEC Tournament.
- The Gators are 14-15 all-time in the SEC Tournament’s second round. With a win Thursday, Florida would have its first victory in a second round matchup since 2014 when as a No. 5 seed it defeated No. 12 Mississippi State 71-67.
- The Gators are 21-39 all time in the SEC Tournament.
- The Gators haven’t advanced to the SEC Tournament’s quarterfinals since 2016 when the event was held in Jacksonville.
- Thursday marks just the second all-time meeting between the Gators and Tigers in the SEC Tournament.
- With 10 games against AP Top 25 opponents, it was UF’s most in a regular season since the 2001-02 campaign.
- UF leads the SEC in games played by underclassmen (188) and is second in games started (85). True freshmen and sophomores account for 63 percent of its offense.
- On Tuesday, Lavender Briggs was named to the SEC All-Freshman team becoming the 22nd player in program history to garner the accolade as the league office released its postseason awards Tuesday. Briggs is the first Gator to collect an SEC postseason honor since the 2016-17 season.
- UF leads the SEC in games played by underclassmen (188) and is second in games started (85). True freshmen and sophomores account for 63 percent of its offense.
- Winning seven more games than it did a season ago, Florida has the fifth-largest year-to-year improvement in program history.
- With 413 points scored, Lavender Briggs ranks seventh in program history in freshmen scoring.
- All games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the tournament will air on the SEC Network. The semifinals on Saturday will air on ESPNU with Sunday’s championship game broadcast on ESPN2.
- Fans attending the 2020 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greenville will be asked to enter the event with clear bags and should be prepared to arrive early and to see a law enforcement presence in and around Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the Conference office has announced. The SEC strongly encourages fans not to bring any type of bags to the tournament, but bags must be clear or otherwise a small clutch bag to be allowed into the arena.
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