Florida Women’s Basketball: Gators split opening two of the week, hit the road
By Will Thomas
![Florida Gators guard KK Deans (3) drives to the basket during the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Sunday, January 22, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Women S Basketball Florida Vs Vanderbilt](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F189fc2b04c6865e29b698858ac577a7954f52556d493e765f120b98d0746fc99.jpg "Florida Gators guard KK Deans (3) drives to the basket during the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Sunday, January 22, 2023. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]Ncaa Women S Basketball Florida Vs Vanderbilt")
Florida women’s basketball has split their first two games this week, and now they head on the road to take on the 18-5 Ole Miss Rebels.
Before we get into that, let’s take a look at the week that the Gators have had.
On Monday, they went on the road to Auburn and couldn’t leave with a win, dropping the game 66-55. Despite making eight more threes than the Tigers, Auburn still made 37.7% of their shots compared to Florida’s 26.9%.
The Gators also got outrebounded 52-40 and had six more team fouls than the Tigers.
Leilani Correa lead the Gators in scoring with 16 points off the bench and was the only Gator in double figures.
Both KK Deans and Nina Rickards found themselves in foul trouble and shot a combined 4-22 from the field. Those numbers won’t win you many games on the road.
Both Deans and Rickards bounced back however in the Gators’ win over Texas A&M at home on Thursday. Deans scored 12 and Rickards had 10, as they lead the team to a win over the struggling Aggies.
Florida’s leading scorer in this one was Ra Shaya Kyle with 13 points on 6-12 from the field. She also grabbed a sensational 17 rebounds in this game.
The Gators really flipped the script in this one from their loss at Auburn. They outrebounded the Aggies 42-35 and had six fewer team fouls.
As we saw with the men’s team against Tennessee, the ability to defend without fouling will win you a lot of games.
On Sunday, the Gators will play the toughest game of this three-game set. They go up to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels who are 4th in the SEC, and 11-1 this season on their home floor.
They’re coming off of an overtime win at Arkansas and will look for a more comfortable win at home. If the Gators want to pull off the upset, they’ll need the same play from Deans and Rickards they got against Texas A&M.
They also need to control the boards again. If Ra Shaya Kyle can grab 17 rebounds again, the Gators will be in good shape. In all likelihood however, that won’t happen, so players like Faith Dut will have to elevate their game and dominate the paint.
Keep up with Florida women’s basketball at Hail Florida Hail.