Florida will be without fourth-year head coach Kelly Rae Finley for its matchup against Minnesota in the WBIT Final Four, according to the Alligator's Mandy Roman.
Finely is anticipating the birth of her child, which will prohibit her from joining the Gators in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Gators are seeking their first WBIT Final appearance in program history just one year after being bounced in the opening round by St. John's.
The Gators are coming off a win over Texas Tech, while the Gophers beat Gonzaga in overtime. The winner of tonight's matchup will head to the 2025 WBIT Final and play the winner of Belmont and Villanova.
The game will be televised on ESPNU. Tip-off is currently set for 5:00 P.M. EST.
Softball Sweeps Auburn
After a disappointing midweek loss to UCF, Florida Softball got back in gear with a sweep over Auburn over the weekend.
All three games played out differently as game one was a slugfest by both sides. All three pitchers Florida trotted out gave up at least two runs, but the bats for Florida were on fire with 11 hits and eight walks to score 11 runs and preval 11-7.
Game two was never in doubt in a 10-0 run-rule victory, but the big storyline was the return of Keagan Rothrock to the circle. Rothrock had been out since February 22. She went 4.2 innings with no runs on four hits and one walk.
Game three was a much closer affair, but four runs in the 3rd inning was all Florida needed for a 4-3 win.
The Gators are now 33-5 on the season and 6-3 in SEC play. They will take on FSU this Wednesday before a home series against Arkansas.
Men's Swimming Finishes 4th At Nationals
For the second year in a row the men's swimming team has finished in the top five at nationals. Florida had 315 points to finish comfortably in 4th ahead of the 266.5 points Tennessee had. Texas won the meet with 490 points.
Josh Liendo and Julian Smith won individual titles for Florida. They also teamed up with Jonny Marshall and Alexander Painter to win the 400 medley relay.
The men's performance follows up the women's team coming in 6th last week.