Tag: Lavender Briggs

Lady Gators add 5-star PG to 2024 class

Florida women’s basketball might be the best recruiting team on campus after landing a second five-star recruit in as many years.

The Florida Gators women’s basketball team added five-star point guard [autotag]Alivia McGill[/autotag] to its 2024 recruiting class on Monday, according to an announcement video she posted to social media.

The 5-foot-7-inch tall Hopkins (Coon Rapids, Minnesota) product is ranked No. 19 overall on ESPN’s 2024 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings, also known as the Super 60. It’s the second-straight year that Florida has locked down a five-star recruit for the women’s basketball team. [autotag]Laila Reynolds[/autotag], the team’s five-star signee in the 2023 cycle, will join the team this upcoming season, and McGill is set to arrive in Gainesville for the 2024-25 campaign.

McGill averaged 14 points and three assists per game as a junior. She led Hopkins to a second-place finish in Minnesota’s Class 4A state championship and is likely looking to win it all next year before heading off to college.

Women’s basketball head coach Kelly Rae Finley has changed the program dramatically over the past few years. Two seasons ago, Florida was still dealing with a coaching abuse scandal that put a cloud over the program for some time. Then, superstar [autotag]Lavender Briggs[/autotag] transferred to Maryland, and things looked bleak for the Gators.

Now, Finley has two five-star recruits headed to the Swamp and things look like they are taking a turn for the better. Here’s hoping they do.

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Foul trouble dooms Notre Dame against Maryland in NCAA Tournament

The road has ended for the 2022-23 Irish.

With no [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] or [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag], Notre Dame relied heavily on its frontcourt for the NCAA Tournament. The problem with that is you only can succeed that way when the frontcourt is able to play.

When [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] and [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] both picked up their fourth fouls during the third quarter of the Irish’s Sweet 16 game against Maryland, the bottom fell out of what had been a competitive contest. With [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] forced to preserve Watson and Ebo for when they really might be needed, the Terrapins ended the quarter on a 13-1 run and never looked back in a 76-59 win, ending the Irish’s season.

The Irish (27-6) scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter to take their biggest lead at eight. They remained in front by one at halftime but didn’t lead after that. While they tied the score five times in the third quarter, the smaller lineup they were forced to go to with their bigs in foul trouble ultimately caught up with them.

Diamond Miller and Shyanne Sellers combined to lead the guard-heavy Terrapins (28-6) with 30 of their 45 second-half points. They led by as much as 22 late in the fourth quarter as they punched their ticket to the Elite Eight.

After slow first halves, Miller and Sellers with 18 points apiece, and Sellers also had a game-high eight assists. Lavender Briggs scored 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Abby Meyers had 11 points and tied Miller for the team lead in steals with four. That gave Meyers and Miller eight of the Terrapins’ 15 steals.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] lived up to her reputation as the Irish’s all-purpose player with 14 points and seven rebounds, but she also committed four turnovers. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] led the Irish with seven assists but had four turnovers of her own. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored nine points but tied [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] with a team-high five turnovers before fouling out. Ebo fouled out with seven points in her final college game.

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Game Details: LSU Lady Tigers take on the Florida Gators

After a week off the Lady Tigers head to Flordia to take on the Gators.

The LSU women’s basketball team will take on the Flordia Gators in Florida on Sunday. It has been a week since the Lady Tigers have played a game; their last game was last Sunday, a win against Vanderbilt. LSU is 17-2, 6-0 in the SEC, and Florida is 14-5, 4-2 in the SEC.

LSU has won three in a row, and Flordia comes into the game with a four-game winning streak. The Tigers are averaging 77.2 points per game and are 15-1 when they put up more than 64 points. The Lady Tigers are also playing strong defense, giving up just 57.5 points per game and holding teams to 35.2% from the field. Florida scores 68.9 points per game and is 9-3 when they score over 58 points.

Players to watch

Khayla Pointer leads LSU in scoring and assists; she averages 18.1 points and 4.7 assists per game. Pointer has been good from behind the arc, shooting 45%. Alexis Morris is another crucial player for the Tigers, averaging 14.9 points; she is also good on the defensive end swiping 2.2 steals per game.

Kiara Smith is the go-to player for the Gators, with 13.3 points and 4.5 assists; Lavender Briggs adds 12.2 points and 5.5 rebounds for Florida. Jordyn Merritt is the Gator’s third double-digit scorer with 10.2 points per game.

Game details

  • Date: Sunday, Jan. 23
  • Location: The Stephen O’Connell Center, Gainsville, Florida
  • Time: 1:00 p.m. CT
  • TV: SEC Network+
  • Radio: LSU Radio Network
  • App: Watch ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (try it free)

Lady Gators lose star guard Lavender Briggs for season

The Gators are losing one of their best to injury once again

Florida women’s basketball will be without one of its stars for the remainder of the season after junior guard Lavender Briggs announced that an injury would sideline her. Briggs is dealing with a stress fracture in her left shin, according to the Associated Press.

Briggs led the team in points and rebounds per game, playing in 14 of Florida’s first 15 games. She missed the final eight games of her sophomore season with a foot injury.

“She is obviously a key component for our team, and we will miss what she brings to the court,” interim coach Kelly Rae Finley said. “We want her to do what’s best in both the short and long term, not only for her basketball career, but for her quality of life.”

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Briggs is only 39 points shy of joining the 1,000-point club, but she’ll have to wait until next year to reach the milestone. She’ll become the 27th Gator to hit the mark. Kiara “Kiki” Smith is the team’s outright leader in points and will be the focal point of the offense going forward. Forward Jordyn Merritt is also averaging above 10 points per game and could add to that with Briggs out.

Rutgers transfer Zippory “Zippy” Broughton and freshman Alberte Rimdal could also see some more action. Guard Nina Rickards has started 13 games for Florida but is only averaging 6.9 points per game.

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Two Lady Gators named to basketball Preseason All-SEC teams

Florida WBK isn’t expected to finish too high up in the SEC this year, according to a coaches vote, but they think you should keep an eye on these two Gators.

Florida is predicted to finish eleventh in Southeastern Conference after a vote was taken by the league’s coaches. They also voted on preseason awards, naming Florida guards Lavender Briggs and Kiara Smith to the All-SEC Preseason First and Second teams, respectively.

Briggs, a junior whose sophomore campaign was cut short due to a foot injury, led the team in scoring in each of her first two seasons. She also became the first Gator in five years to make the All-SEC Second Team in 2021, so expect Florida to lean heavily on her for production this year.

Kiara Smith has played three seasons with Florida after transferring from ASA College in New York. She stepped up big last year, becoming the first player in program history to lead the team in total points, rebounds and assists in a single season.

South Carolina, Texas A&M and Tennessee are predicted to finish at the top of the conference, and Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard was voted as SEC Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year. To cut down on favoritism, coaches aren’t allowed to vote for their own team or players in this process.

Florida’s season begins against Georgia State on November 9.

The full results of the preseason vote can be found below.

Preseason Coaches’ Predictions

Order of Finish

1. South Carolina

2. Texas A&M

3. Tennessee

4. Georgia

5. Kentucky

6. Ole Miss

7. Arkansas

8. LSU

9. Mississippi State

10. Missouri

11. Florida

12. Alabama

13. Auburn

14. Vanderbilt

Player of the Year

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

First Team All-SEC

Lavender Briggs, Florida

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

Khayla Pointer, LSU

Shakira Austin, Ole Miss

Rickea Jackson, Mississippi State

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Zia Cooke, South Carolina

Rae Burrell, Tennessee

Second Team All-SEC

Amber Ramirez, Arkansas

Kiara Smith, Florida

Que Morrison, Georgia

Jenna Staiti, Georgia

Aijha Blackwell, Missouri

Destanni Henderson, South Carolina

Tamari Key, Tennessee

Jordan Nixon, Texas A&M

Kayla Wells, Texas A&M

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Lady Gators guard Lavender Briggs earns Second Team All-SEC honors

SEC women’s basketball coaches have picked their preseason favorites as well as First and Second Team All-SEC including UF’s Lavender Briggs

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by the Knoxville News Sentinel and has been republished in its entirety below. 

SEC women’s basketball coaches have picked South Carolina as the favorite to win the 2021 SEC Championship.

This comes after the Gamecocks were tabbed as the No. 1 team in the nation in the Associated Press preseason rankings, their 11th-straight week at the top dating back to the abbreviated 2019-20 season.

South Carolina won both the SEC Regular Season and Tournament Championships in 2020, with tournament crowns in five of the past six seasons. Kentucky was picked second in the poll, followed by Texas A&M, Arkansas and Mississippi State.

Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard was voted as the SEC Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year. South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston also received votes.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team or player, and ties were not broken in any way.

The full preseason All-SEC teams and projected order of finish can be seen below.

First Team All-SEC

Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas

Unique Thompson, Auburn

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

Khayla Pointer, LSU

Rickea Jackson, Mississippi State

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Rennia Davis, Tennessee

N’dea Jones, Texas A&M

Second Team All-SEC

Jasmine Walker, Alabama

Destiny Slocum, Arkansas

Lavender Briggs, Florida

Shakira Austin, Ole Miss

Jessika Carter, Mississippi State

Aijha Blackwell, Missouri

Zia Cooke, South Carolina

Kayla Wells, Texas A&M

Order of Finish

1. South Carolina

2. Kentucky

3. Texas A&M

4. Arkansas

5. Mississippi State

6. Tennessee

7. LSU

8. Alabama

9. Georgia

10. Missouri

11. Ole Miss

12. Florida

13. Vanderbilt

14. Auburn

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