![Florida Gators head coach Kelly Rae Finley talks with Florida Gators center Ra Shaya Kyle (24) 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_crop,x_0,y_0,w_4905,h_2759/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jd820q2h0jyr8mg4qe.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Kelly Rae Finley talks with Florida Gators center Ra Shaya Kyle (24) 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")
Four games into the 2024/25 campaign, Florida Women's Basketball is 3-1 on the season. The Gators cruised through their first three games before dropping an 83-73 contest against Miami last Saturday.
With that backdrop, Florida's next game is also against an in-state rival and will serve as a solid barometer of what to actually expect from Florida this season.
Florida Basketball: Fork in the road
In Florida's loss to Miami, Jeriah Warren had a career-high 25 points. Her offensive explosion has been a welcome sight for the Gators as the senior came into the season having never averaged more than five points a game for an entire season.
The problem for Florida is they had zero answer for Haley Cavinder, who lit up Florida for 31 points and five assists. Florida fell behind by 15 points at halftime, pulled it within five points heading into the fourth quarter and were within three points with 2:30 to go before Miami pulled away for good.
The loss was a setback for a Florida program trying to prove it belongs back in the NCAA Tournament in 2025. Tonight's game against FSU is an early chance to prove whether Florida is a contender or a pretender for that goal.
FSU comes in 4-1, but is 269th in RPI as their strength of schedule is 349th in the country. Last year, FSU was respectable, but it was far from elite at 61st in RPI.
A win tonight won't be a signature win that gets Florida into the tournament by itself, but it should be a win that would hold up as a Quad 2 win.
Tipoff is at 7 PM in Tallahassee.