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Deep into an underwhelming football season for Florida fans, basketball arrives with new hope for success in Gainesville.
The ’24-’25 season begins tonight at 7 for the Florida women’s basketball team when it hosts Florida Atlantic University in the O’Dome.
The Gators aim for improvement following a 16-16 season when they missed the NCAA Tournament. Florida was rated the 14th best team in the SEC, a downgrade from 11th last year, presumably due to leading scorer Aliyah Matharu transferring to Baylor.
https://twitter.com/GatorsWBK/status/1853444455786754366
Historic Recruiting For Florida
Florida has low fan expectation going into the season after a .500 finish last year. The SEC has only become more challenging with its two-team expansion: Texas and Oklahoma.
The Gators did pull in one of their best recruiting classes in recent years this offseason. The 10th-best recruiting class in the country brings new skills to the court for the Gators.
Freshman guard Liv McGill makes her college basketball debut tonight. The No. 7 prospect in the country is the highest-ranked recruit in Florida history. McGill played 24 minutes in Florida’s exhibition game against Flagler, dropping eight points and grabbing five rebounds.
Fourth-year coach Kelly Rae Finley has high praise for McGill:
“She’s an old-school point guard, a floor general. She’s got a steadiness to her game, a good pace.”
Liv McGill will make major noise as a freshman for Florida! @mcgiaiviA1 pic.twitter.com/1U5A2S34FW
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) July 5, 2024
Other notable recruits:
- No. 25-ranked Kylee Kitts from Oviedo.
- No.33-ranked Me’Arah O’Neal from Houston, Texas. She’s the daughter of Hall of Fame NBA player Shaquille O’Neal.
With high-ranked recruits in addition to veteran returnees, Florida is confident of improving this season. Finley promises a more versatile offense, where starters play multiple positions on the court:
Matchup
FAU comes off its third consecutive losing season. The Owls finished 11-19 last season, 6-12 in AAC play.
FAU has five returning players and eight new players on the roster. Promising 6-foot-6 recruit Lovisa Asbrink Hose is from Stockholm and played at Lulea Gymnasieskola, the most accomplished high school for basketball in Sweden.
The Owls should be an easy non-conference opponent for Florida, who are 7-1 all-time against FAU.
UF’s first-year assistant coach Susie Gardner defeated Florida Atlantic 70-62 last season when she was the head coach at Mercer College.
Where To Watch
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network+ and ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.
