Bait & Bits: Basketball’s Big Win, Softball Still Perfect, and a Good Day for Gators

Feb 15, 2014; Lexington, KY, USA; Florida Gators forward Casey Prather (24) and center Patric Young (4) celebrate during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena. Florida defeated Kentucky 69-59. Mandatory Credit: ©Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Gators. Have any links that you want on Bait & Bits? Tweet it at us @HailFloridaHail or @BrettKaplan13 or email it to us at BrettKaplanHFH@gmail.com.

Bait

Florida Gators vs. Georgia Lady Bulldogs. While the Gators and the Bulldogs have always been huge rivals on whatever surface they play on, today’s women’s basketball game will be for a good cause. Florida and Georgia are taking part in the Play 4Kay initiative. Play 4Kay, named after former NC State head coach Kay Yow, supports women’s cancer research. Yow was diagnosed with three separate instances of breast cancer starting in 1987 before the disease took her life in 2009. Play 4Kay has raised $2.8 million while becoming an opportunity for coaches to raise breast cancer awareness and funds for research on the court, on campuses, and throughout communities nationwide. For more information visit www.KayYow.com or contact the Yow Foundation staff at info@KayYow.com.

Bits

Florida Basketball Takes Down Kentucky at Rupp. The  third-ranked Gators continued a bunch of streaks while snapping the No. 14 Wildcats 22-game home winning streak Saturday night. Florida won for the first time at Rupp Arena in Lexington since their national championship team in 2007. And speaking of 2007, the Gators tied their best start in school history at 24-2, tied their longest winning streak at 17 games, and set a school-record for their best start in SEC play with a perfect 12-0 record. Florida also moved to 5-0 when ESPN’s College Gameday covers their game, including 2-0 at Rupp. Look for the Gators to move into the top-2 in polls tomorrow, with a chance of dethroning top-ranked Syracuse. Make no mistake. This team is good. Like, really good. This is my favorite Florida basketball team since the ’04’s were around.

Gators Softball Stays Perfect. Speaking of really good teams, the Florida softball team, ranked number one in the country, swept day two of the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas to move to 10-0 on the season. Florida mercy-ruled Ohio State (3-5) 19-2 in 5 innings in game one and beat Cal State Northridge soundly, 6-0. The Gators scored 15 runs on 9 hits in the second inning to put the game out of reach for the Buckeyes. Florida hit .500 as a team versus Ohio State as Delanie Gourley picked up her third win of the season. Hannah Rogers (4-0) pitched a four-hit shutout, walking one and striking out three against the Cal State Northridge Matadors (4-4). Florida will play one more game in Vegas against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at noon today.

Lacrosse Beats High Point. Florida’s Shannon Gilroy set three school-records as the Gators (2-1) beat the High Point Panthers (1-1) 18-7. Gilroy’s records include 10 draw controls, eight goals, and 13 shots, as well as setting a career-high with eight points. Check out highlights from the Gators win, including interviews (h/t GatorZone):

Men’s Tennis Upsets Georgia at the ITA Indoor Championships. The No. 12 Gators (4-3) men’s tennis team took out the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (3-4) 4-2 at the 2014 ITA Division I Men’s Team Indoor Championship. Sophomore Gordon Watson notched the series clinching match in a win over Georgia’s Nick Wood. For more on the matches, click here. Florida’s final day at The Downtown club at The Met in Houston is today when they compete against ninth-ranked Mississippi State or No. 16 Notre Dame at 12:30 pm.

Track and Field has Good Showing Prepping for SEC Championship. Florida’s track and field team was spread across the country at four locations this weekend, all while prepping for the SEC Indoor Championship in two weeks in College Station, TX. Florida competed at the Millrose Games in New York, Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Iowa State Classic in Ames, IA, and Husky Classic in Seattle. To see complete results, take a look at GatorZone.

Two Gators in Top-10 at SunTrust Gator Invitational. Santiago Gavino sits in sixth-place and Ryan Orr is in 10th after the second day as Florida hosts the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the Mark Bostic Golf Course on UF campus. Florida as a team is tied for eighth. For complete scores, head over to GatorZone. The final round will be played today.

Early Start for Florida Sunday. Gator fans continue to have a busy schedule following their teams Sunday, but will have to get up early. Men’s golf tees off at 8 am at the SunTrust Gator Invitational, softball (Minnesota) and baseball (Maryland) both have the opening pitch at noon, and women’s basketball (Georgia) tips off at 1 pm. We’ll keep you posted at Hail Florida Hail on all the results.

For more on the Gators make sure to follow us on Twitter (@HailFloridaHail, @BrettKaplan13 and @laynejweitzel).