Florida Gators Women’s Basketball Faces Tough Test in Alabama Tonight

The Florida Gators’ women’s basketball team will look to rebound from Monday’s loss to Kentucky against a strong Alabama team on Thursday night. The Gators have lost three of their past four, and sit 11th in the SEC standings at (3-8) in conference play.

The Alabama Crimson Tide got off to an incredibly hot start to the season, going 11-1 in their first 12 games, however have lost five of their last seven heading into a SEC rivalry matchup tonight against the Gators. The Tide sit sixth in the SEC standings at 6-6 in conference play.

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— Gators Women’s Basketball (@GatorsWBK) February 18, 2021

Florida Without Lavender Briggs

Florida Gators guard Lavender Briggs has been batting a foot injury throughout most of the season however still maintained an incredibly high level of play. Briggs has led the Gators’ offense averaging 19.5 points per game, and 6.5 rebounds per game. Head coach Cameron Newbauer, broke the news on Monday that Briggs will be out the remainder of the season due to a foot injury.

https://twitter.com/lavbriggs/status/1361498521912795137

Keys to the Game

The Gators first game without Briggs was an 88-80 loss against Kentucky. The Gators will need redshirt senior guard Kiara Smith to step up and fill the void of missing Briggs on the court. Smith is the only other Gator besides Briggs averaging double figures at 17.2 points per game. The Gators will also look to sophomore guard Nina Rickards, and redshirt senior guard Danielle Rainey to fill some of the offensive production that is lost without Briggs.

The Crimson Tide led by senior star forward Jasmine Walker, have one of the deepest rosters in the SEC. The Tide have three players averaging at least 14 points per game:

Jasmine Walker – 20.8 PPG, 10.2 RPG

Jordan Lewis – 16.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG

Ariyah Copeland – 14.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG

The Tide’s dynamic offense led by Walker, will look to overpower the Briggs’ less Gators.

Coverage for tonight’s game begins at 4:45.