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Amanda Butler has done it all at Florida. She was a four year starter as a player, spent time as an assistant coach and eventually became the head coach at her alma mater. Butler earned her position at Florida. 

Butler was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member and was second on the Gators all-time assist rankings when she graduated. Butler was a captain her senior year, and led Florida to 73 wins which was the most of any four-year class at that time.  

Butler later became the first graduate assistant in UF program history and followed that up by being an assistant coach at Austin Peay and UNC-Charlotte. After just two years at Charlotte, Butler was promoted to Associate head coach. Butler was named head coach two years later when Katie Meier left Charlotte for Miami. Butler was named the 2006 Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year finishing with a 21-9 record and winning the A-10 regular season crown. Butler completed the 2007 season with a 19-13 record.  Florida had an opening after firing Carolyn Peck midway through the 2007 season, and Butler was the obvious choice. 

But has the honeymoon ended? Butler is 184-130 overall at Florida. Florida has never finished in the top-3 of the SEC or made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. 

Butler has spent a decade as head coach of a mediocre program. That’s not the Gator way. At Florida “the everything school,” success is expected. And though you can argue that Butler has been successful as her career record is over .500, this isn’t what Florida or their fans expect. 

Look at the other women’s sports at Florida: Volleyball consistently makes the NCAA tournament and wins SEC Championships. Soccer has a national championship and is always among the nation’s top-25. Gymnastics three-peated on the national stage. Women’s tennis has won five national championships and lacrosse has become a Big East powerhouse and perennial championship contender. 

It’s just not the Gator way to be average.  South Carolina recognized that mediocrity wasn’t satisfactory and hired Dawn Staley as head coach one year after Florida hired Butler. South Carolina had gone 165-160 in Susan Walvius’ eleven seasons. (To be fair: Walvius resigned after the 2008 season).  South Carolina has become a powerhouse in women’s basketball with Staley at the helm. Staley turned a mediocre program into an amazing program that has lost only ten games in the last three seasons. 

Florida seemed in position to make a run this year in the SEC. Florida was returning many of their top players from last year’s 22-9 NCAA tournament team and hopes were high as Florida was ranked in the polls. 

Unfortunately on December 9 all that changed. Florida’s top player, Eleanna Christinaki quit on her team after not accepting a first half suspension. The loss of Christinaki drained this team, and with few exceptions the team has been incredibly overmatched. 

While I applaud Coach Butler for not giving in to a spoiled athlete who thought she could do whatever she wanted (note: the nature of the violation that Christinaki committed has never been publicly announced), I also question the decision to use a rotation of only eight players. Too often this year Florida has had three and four players in foul trouble with only three players to substitute. 

Florida is 0-5 in SEC play this year, and unfortunately in several games the Gators haven’t even been competitive. 

I really am fond of Coach Butler, she truly is a great Gator. She has passion and a certain swagger about her that makes her impossible not to like.  And who knows where this team would be without Christinaki quitting, but I could also see where new athletic director Scott Stricklin would want to go another direction. 

I believe she deserves at least one more season, but that seat should be extremely uncomfortable. 

What do you think Gator Nation?

FINAL: FLORIDA 80, GEORGIA 76 (OT)

GAINESVILL, FL-  Florida faced off with the Georgia Bulldogs in a key SEC showdown on Saturday.  The Gators found themselves down by eight points in the second half, but made a run to tie the game and force overtime.  Kasey Hill hit two of four free throws in the waning seconds of the second half.  Canyon Barry and John Egbunu played a key part of the overtime, as Barry made both free throws he attempted in the extra period, and Egbunu found several rebounds, and made a shot to put the Gators up by multiple scores.

Barry had his best game as a Gator scoring a season high 27 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.  Barry made two rare four-point plays and shot 7-13 from the field.  Barry also went 8-8 from the free throw line.  Freshman Keith Stone also played a key role for Florida as he scored 17 points while making three of his four three-point shots.

Florida’s bench outscored their starters for the second consecutive game led by Barry and Stone, and the Gators bench outscored Georgia’s bench 51-5.

Florida is now 5-0 during conference play, and will play a tough road game against South Carolina on Wednesday before returning home to play Vanderbilt next Saturday.

ATTENDANCE:  10,379

RECORDS:

• GEORGIA:                         11-6
• FLORIDA:                           14-3

Team Stats:

What’s Next:

FLORIDA GATORS AT SOUTH CAROLINA

JANUARY 18, 2016 at 6:30 PM

SEC NETWORK

FINAL: MISSISSIPPI STATE 82, FLORIDA 49

STARKVILLE, MS-  Florida’s women’s basketball team suffered their worst loss in a long time on Thursday at the hands of Mississippi State.  Florida turned the ball over 27 times while only forcing the Lady Bulldogs into 10 turnovers.  Mississippi State showed the Gators why they are ranked inside the top 5, as they raced to an early lead, forcing an early timeout by Florida head coach Amanda Butler.  Florida had no answer, and found themselves down by 15 at the first intermission.

Freshman Delicia Washington scored 17 points and collected 6 rebounds to lead Florida.  Senior Ronni Williams was the only other Gator in double figures with 11 points.  Junior leader Haley Lorenzen was limited to 3 points on 1-5 shooting  in 30 minutes of play.

Florida was again playing with a short bench, and had two players foul out (Lorenzen, Fleming), while two other players finished the game with four fouls (Williams, Washington).  Florida got a combined 48 minutes from her three bench players, but only Sydney Morang scored.  Morang finished with 4 points on 1-5 shooting.

The Lady Bulldogs were led by 6-foot-7 sophomore Teaira McCowan off the bench.  McCowan played 24 minutes and scored a career-high 25 points on 12-13 shooting.  Victoria Vivians added 21 points.  Mississippi State is now 18-0 on the season and 4-0 in SEC play.

Florida falls to 9-8 overall and 0-4 during the SEC season.  Florida will face 13-4 Texas A&M in Gainesville on Sunday.

TEAM STATS:

WHAT’S NEXT:

FLORIDA VS TEXAS A&M

JANUARY 15, 2017 at 1:00 PM

EXACTECH ARENA

FINAL: SOUTH CAROLINA 81, FLORIDA 62

GAINESVILLE, FL-  The Florida Gators fell to the #5 South Carolina Lady Gamecocks on Sunday by an 81-62 margin.  Florida only trailed by two after a back and forth first quarter, but South Carolina limited the Gators to only 5 second quarter points.  Florida didn’t score in the second quarter until there was just over four minutes left.  South Carolina scored 26 points in that second quarter, and cruised the rest of the way to the victory.  For the game, the Gators were forced into 22 turnovers and only made 36.5% of their field goals.  Florida missed far too many easy shots and layups to stay competitive with South Carolina.

An interesting situation occurred towards the end of the game as Florida was playing with a short bench, having only eight players dressed.  Florida had four players with four fouls for much of the second half.  We actually looked up the rule to see what would happen if Florida had four players foul out and only three subs.  It turns out that the last player to foul out (or fourth in this case) would remain in the game, and each foul thereafter would result in a technical.

Florida was led by freshman Delicia Washington with 18 points and 7 rebounds.  Haley Lorenzen added 15 points and 5 rebounds.  Ronni Williams just couldn’t seem to make her shots fall as she finished with 6 points on 2-11 shooting.  Williams, Tyshara Fleming, Lorenzen, and Washington all had four fouls for much of the second half.  Williams and Fleming fouled out.

A’Ja Wilson led the Gamecocks with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Allisha Gray added 18 points.  Alaina Coates chipped in 14 points and 13 rebounds.  South Carolina improves to 13-1 on the season and 3-0 in SEC play.

Florida falls to 9-7 and 0-3 in the SEC.  Florida has dropped four of their last seven games.  Florida is 0-3 in SEC play for the first time since 2006-07.

TEAM STATS:

WHAT’S NEXT:

FLORIDA VS #4 MISSISSIPPI STATE

JANUARY 12, 2017 at 9:00 PM

HUMPHREY COLISEUM

Florida Gators guard KeVaughn Allen was named the SEC Player of the Week for week 9 on Monday. 

Allen has helped lead the Gators to a 12-3 record and an undefeated 3-0 start in SEC play. 

Allen and the Gators played two conference games, winning both. Allen scored 14 points in a win against Mississippi on Tuesday and added a season-high 23 against Tennessee on Saturday. 

Allen scored his 37 points on only 22 shot attempts, making more than 50% of his field goal attempts. Even more impressively is that over the last two games, Allen has hit from behind the three point arc at 62% (8-13).

Allen is leading a strong backcourt for the Gators, who are hoping to surprise many and make a run during the NCAA tournament. Florida has the #3 RPI in the country and is ranked #23 by the Associated Press. 

​16 minutes played, 3 points, 3 rebounds.  Nothing really stands out in those numbers. However, for the Florida Gators game against the Tennessee Volunteers, those stats belonged to the player of the game. 

Schuyler Rimmer originally committed to the Florida Gators  in the 2013 recruiting class. However, Rimmer got the opportunity to attend Stanford and jumped at the offer.  

Rimmer, from Boone High School in Orlando, would eventually transfer to Florida during the 2014 school year as a walk on as the Gators were over their scholarship limit.  

In 2015-16 Rimmer made 25 appearances for the Gators averaging 1.4 points and 1.5 rebounds. Rimmer rarely saw meaningful action for any extended amount of time. 

However, on Saturday night Florida head coach Mike White needed Rimmer. Both John Egbunu and Kevarrius Hayes were in serious foul trouble in a tight game against SEC foe Tennessee, and Florida needed quality minutes from the 6-10 255lb senior. 

Rimmer more than held his own as he played defense with an intensity that hadn’t been present prior to his entrance in the game. He also stayed out of the foul trouble that his teammates were forced into. 

His final stat line was nothing impressive, but his defensive intensity will benefit these Gators as the season goes on.  If Rimmer is able to give Florida’s bigs a break for any amount of time, the team will be better off. 

Rimmer gained a lot of new fans on Saturday with his  heart, and determination.  He proved he can be counted on when called upon against a major rival. 

For at least one night, Schuyler Rimmer stole the show. 

All it took was 16 minutes, 3 points, and 3 rebounds. 

FINAL: FLORIDA 83, TENNESSEE 70

GAINESVILLE, FL-  The Florida Gators moved to 3-0 in SEC play with an 83-70 victory over Tennessee on Saturday night. Florida was led by a tough defense that forced the Volunteers into 19 turnovers. 

Florida trailed at halftime and had been forced into 9 turnovers, which Tennessee converted into 15 points. Florida was 2-12 from the three point arc in the first half, but connected on all 7 of their second half attempts. Florida also only turned the ball over two times in the final frame. 

KeVaughn Allen paced the Gators with 23 points, and connected on four three pointers in the final seven and a half minutes of the game. Justin Leon added 19 points on 5-6 shooting from the field. Leon made three of his four 3-point attempts. Canyon Barry celebrated his 23rd birthday with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Kasey Hill added 7 points and 7 assists for the Gators. 

Tennessee was led by Admiral Schofield, who contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Jordan Bowden added 15 points for the Volunteers. 

ATTENDANCE:  10,851

RECORDS:

• TENNESSEE:           8-7 (1-2)
• FLORIDA:                12-3 (3-0)

Team Stats

What’s Next:

FLORIDA GATORS @ ALABAMA

JANUARY 10, 2017 at 9:00 PM