GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The six writers who cover Southeastern Conference women’s basketball for USA Today Sports Network have named Kelly Rae Finley their SEC Coach of the Year.
 
Finley spent the 2021-22 season acting as the interim head coach for the Gators, leading UF to a 20-win season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign and the 16th time in the history of the program. Under her command, the Orange & Blue also won 10 Southeastern Conference games for just the fourth time in program history.
 
Securing the fifth-seed in the SEC Tournament, the Gators defeated five ranked opponents for the first time since the 2005-06 season, including five nationally ranked opponent in the SEC for the first time since 2004. A victory of note, Florida earned their largest margin of victory over a top-10 team when they defeated No. 7 Tennessee, 84-59, handing the Lady Vols their worst loss against an unranked squad since the AP Poll debuted in 1976.
 
Under her continued tutelage, graduate Kiara Smith continued to improve, leading the team this season with 14.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game. In SEC play, the District Heights, Md., native averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game, helping her to earn First Team All-SEC honors and All-Defensive Team honors. In addition to Smith, freshman Alberte Rimdal was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
 
The Gators begin postseason play on Thursday when they take-on the winner of Vanderbilt-Texas A&M at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET.
 

Down 5 with 44 seconds left, it seemed like Florida Gators Men’s Basketball were headed toward another deflating loss as they try one last push for the NCAA Tournament.

But a clutch block by Phlandrous Fleming led to a layup, followed by a Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball turnover on the inbound pass. Fleming hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to give the Gators the lead they would not relinquish.

Florida is 19-11 and 9-8 in the SEC, tied for 6th in the conference. There’s one last game before the SEC Tournament: a home date Saturday with No. 6 Kentucky Men’s Basketball.

📸: Christopher Hanewinckel / USA TODAY Sports
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After guiding Florida women’s basketball to their most successful season since 2016, Kelly Rae Finley will be the 11th head coach in program history, Athletics Director Scott Stricklin announced Monday.
 
Media availability with Kelly Rae Finley will take place post-game at the SEC Tournament and the next in-person availability will be the week of March 7th.
 
Finley spent the 2021-22 season acting as the interim head coach for the Gators, leading UF to a 20-win season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign and the 16th time in the history of the program. Under her command, the Orange & Blue also won 10 Southeastern Conference games for just the fourth time in program history.
 
Securing the fifth-seed in the SEC Tournament, the Gators defeated five ranked opponents for the first time since the 2005-06 season, including five nationally ranked opponent in the SEC for the first time since 2004. A victory of note, Florida earned their largest margin of victory over a top-10 team when they defeated No. 7 Tennessee, 84-59, handing the Lady Vols their worst loss against an unranked squad since the AP Poll debuted in 1976.
 
Under her continued tutelage, graduate Kiara Smith continued to improve, leading the team this season with 14.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game. In SEC play, the District Heights, Md., native averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game, helping her to two SEC Player of the Week honors during the year.
 
Prior to her time as the interim head coach, Finley held roles as both the associate head coach and assistant coach for the Gators, playing an important role in the development of athletes such as Kiara Smith and Jordyn Merritt. Acting as the main recruiter, Finley played an integral part of rebuilding the roster upon arrival in Gainesville, helping to sign the No. 26 overall recruiting class in the nation in 2019, according to ProspectsNation.
 
Prior to her time in Florida, Finley recorded stints at Arizona (2016-17), Colorado (2012-16) and Harvard (2009-12). At Arizona, Finley helped to bring in the No. 34 recruiting class in the nation, which included three state players of the year, while also helping Colorado achieve a similar feat with a top-25 nationally-ranked class in 2015.
 
During her time at Harvard, Finley assisted in the signing of Temitop Fagbenle, the Ivy League’s first ever McDonald’s All-American and second Olympian.
 
A Minnesota native, Finley graduated from Colorado State in 2008 where she earned Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete honors as a member of the women’s basketball team.
 
Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin
On Kelly Rae Finley becoming head coach…
“Kelly Rae is such a talented young coach whose natural poise, intelligence and relational abilities have all been on display during this remarkable Gators Women’s Basketball season. I’m excited that she’ll have the opportunity to build off of this year’s success and that future Gators will be able to benefit from her leadership the way this team has.”
 
Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley
On becoming the next Florida women’s basketball head coach…
“I’m humbled to be given the opportunity to lead our women’s basketball program and I believe that together we will be able to achieve great things. I’m forever grateful for our staff and student-athletes for their dedication to growing this program and I look forward to continuing on this journey.”
 
On the culture she wants to instill at Florida…
“Within this program, we strive to create a sustainable and competitive environment that encourages collaboration, fosters creativity and empowers our young women to achieve growth and success during their time at Florida and beyond.”
 
Florida’s Accomplishments under Finley
– First 20-win season since the 2015-16 campaign
– Recorded 10 SEC wins for just the fourth time in program history
– Defeated five ranked opponents for the first time since 2005-06
– Defeated five ranked SEC opponents for the first time since 2004-05
– Won six SEC matchups on the road, the most since the 2000-01 season
– Reached highest rank in the AP Poll since the 2008-09 season, going as high as No. 15
– Earned largest-margin of victory over a top-10 school with an 84-59 victory over No. 7 Tennessee
– The victory over Tennessee was the first time that Florida defeated the Lady Vols by more than 10 points
– Florida handed Tennessee their worst loss against an unranked opponent since the AP Poll debuted in 1976
– Handed No. 23 Kentucky their worst home loss since Jan. 27, 2008 with a 77-52 victory
– Recorded a 19-point comeback at No. 25 Texas A&M to earn the program’s first-ever victory in College Station, Texas
– Won 10 non-conference games for the first time since 2015-16 season
 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 4 Gators closed out the T-Mobile Tournament defeating Florida A&M, 8-0 (5 innings), Sunday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressley Stadium. The shutout victory is Florida’s sixth of the season.
 
The Orange and Blue improved to 10-0 thanks to a shutout performance from junior pitcher Rylee Trlicek and Marissa Mesiemore. The Hallettsville, Texas native started in the circle and tossed 4.0 innings to secure her first win of the season. She surrendered two hits and struck out two batters before she was relieved by the graduate transfer Mesiemore (Bushnell, Fla.) in the 5^th inning.
 
The duo combined to throw only 48 pitches in the 1 hour and 26-minute contest.
 
The Gators entered the run column in the 2^nd inning with Charla Echols scoring the first run via a wild pitch after a walk by Reagan Walsh. Emily Wilkiewould follow that up by knocking in Walsh from third on a groundout to shortstop.
 
Kendra Falby capped the inning off lacing a double down the right field line to score Avery Goelz for the 3rd run of the inning.
 
Florida struck for two more in the 3^rd inning and took a 5-0 lead thanks to Echols as she launched a pitch over the right field fence after Skylar Wallacereached on a hit by pitch. It was the first home run of the year by Echols.
 
Continuing to do damage in the 4^th inning, Falby swiped two bases and scored on a throwing error by the catcher trying to nab her at third base after her bunt single. Echols extended the lead for her third RBI on the day lacing a single into center field.
 
Falby produced the game ending hit with a single to left field for her second RBI of the game.
 
The Gators return to action Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. with a single game at North Florida and then will host the Ospreys the following day at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium at 6 p.m.

Auburn’s Jabari Smith scored 28, but Florida was hot down the stretch to beat the No. 2 Tigers 63-62 in Gainesville. Auburn fell to 24-3 overall and 12-2 in the SEC. Florida improved to 17-10 overall and 7-7 in the league.

Special report on the Florida Gators softball team:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Friday evening No. 4-ranked Florida defeated No. 14 Duke, 9-3, in front of 2,163 fans to close out the opening day of the T-Mobile Tournament at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. It’s UF’s second Top 25 win of the season.
The Gators (7-0) pounded out 10 hits in tonight’s victory and was led by redshirt-junior Skylar Wallace (2-for-3), senior Cheyenne Lindsey (2-for-4) and freshman Kendra Falby (2-for-4) at the plate. It’s the third time over the last four games that the offense has produced 10 or more hits.
Wallace, a native of Woodstock, Ga., also accounted for four of the nine RBI for the Gators, while Lindsey and fellow senior Charla Echols also accounted for a pair of RBI each.
To start the game, the Blue Devils (5-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the Gators and freshman right-handed pitcher Lexie Delbrey. With runners on first and second with no outs, Wallace made an incredible leaping grab on a bunt to stifle the building momentum by Duke for a big out.
However, Jameson Kavel later drove in Ana Gold and Kelly Torres with a one out double to center field, but Delbrey bounced back to limit the damage and retired the next two batters via back-to-back popups.
The Florida hitters responded in the home half of the inning and took the lead when it was the Orange and Blue’s turn to bat. Wallace sparked the offense with a solo home run to center field and Lindsey gave UF a 3-2 lead with her two-RBI double to center field.
With the lead in hand headed to the top of the 2nd inning, Delbrey was relieved by NFCA All-American right-hander Elizabeth Hightower. The Monticello, Fla. native took over the game from the circle as she pitched 6.0 innings and limited the Blue Devils to just two hits and one run for the rest of the game.
The Gators offense continued to roll as the team struck for one run in the 2nd, two runs in the 4th and three in the 5th to take the convincing 9-3 victory.
Florida returns to action on day two of the T-Mobile Tournament Saturday with a pair of games against Villanova and Louisville at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.
Quotes
Head Coach Tim Walton
On how the team is looking early on in the season after defeating its second Top 25 opponent…
“That’s a good softball team. So, I like where we’re at. Every time you put together a schedule you circle a couple dates and this was one of the days I circled on the calendar for a while going ‘Hey it’s going to be a big game on a Friday night’ and sure enough we had a great crowd tonight. I really appreciate everybody coming out and having fun and cheering. We made it really fun in the first inning, but I think overall it was a circled game that I put on the schedule and said ‘Hey this is going to be a kind of see where we’re at kind of a game’ and I think we’re checking all the boxes right now.”

Skylar Wallace
On the offenses’ momentum after her home run in the first…
“I think that was the start of it. I mean just finding one person to spark our lineup is key and once we find that spark it just rolls from there, so just getting that hit was huge just to show that like hey even though they jumped on us first we can jump back.”

On improvement since being at Florida…
“Gaining confidence from Coach Thomas on my hitting, because I kind of grew up being a slapper and relying on my speed and then coming to Florida he’s always said “You can hit the ball and you can be a triple threat.” So being able to bunt, slap, hit and just perfect all of those and use those tools whenever I need to so that if there are five people in the infield I can do something different. So just kind of fine tuning all of those things.”
Notables:

* Tonight was the first ever meeting between the Gators and the Blue Devils.
* UF also improved to 347-261 all-time against NFCA Top 25 teams and 305-172 against teams ranked inside the USA Softball Top 25.
* Skylar Wallace accounted for four RBI in tonight’s win and belted her first home run as a Gator in the bottom of the 1st inning to spark the offense.
* Wallace stole one base tonight, which gives her six on the season.
* The team has now stolen a base in every game this year so far.
* Wallace and Falby each extended their hit streaks to seven games, while Lindsey extended her streak out to six games.
* Wallace, Falby and Hannah Adams have reached base safely in every game so far this season.

The Gators complete the first phase of their offseason program Thursday, and Florida coach Billy Napier will meet with the media Friday to discuss the start of phase two. 

Napier has an eight-phase, year-round football plan that he calls ‘The Journey.’ The first phase, Foundation, began on Jan. 18 and the second phase, Identity, will take place in UF’s indoor practice facility over the next four weeks. 

“We’ll start phase two on Friday. It’s what we call our identity program,” Napier said in an interview with ESPN Gainesville’s Steve Russell. “It’s 15 sessions. One hour, between 4 and 5 o’clock, four days a week. It’s really to kind of create momentum for spring practice. The first half of that is probably the most difficult and challenging thing we do the entire year from a mental and physical toughness standpoint.”

The difficulty of phase two makes it one of Napier’s favorite times of the year because it pushes players to their limits and builds camaraderie. 

“We’re trying to create intangibles on our team. We’re creating leadership opportunities. We want to really work on the integrity of each player, the togetherness of our team, the effort, discipline and toughness and then the certain belief that each individual can do it,” Napier said. 

“It gives an opportunity for the coaches and players to build some relationships on the way towards spring practice. So, in general, it’s one of my favorite times of the year because 75 percent of your team — the ones you’re going to play with in the fall — they’re in that indoor for every one of those 15 sessions.” 

After the ‘identity’ program ends in early March, the Gators will begin the third phase of their offseason: Spring Ball. Napier discussed what he will look to accomplish during those 15 practices. 

“Well, I think what we want to do here is really get expectations established,” Napier said of phase three. “I think it’s important that we define expectations for everybody in the organization. Obviously some of these people have been with me before. For the players, a lot of it is going to be brand new. So defining expectations, being consistent, being fair. 

“I think it’s important that we really spell out what discipline is, we spell out what attention to detail is. The simple things like getting our offense and defense and special teams systems taught, I think those are really important. But, we want to get into our year-round plan.”

The Gators will conclude spring football with the Orange & Blue Game on April 16 at 1 p.m.

TAMPA – No. 6 Florida handily defeated South Florida 12-0 early Sunday afternoon on the final day of the USF – Rawlings Invitational. The three-hit shutout was the third time this weekend that UF held opponents scoreless.
The Gators (4-0) picked up another solid pitching performance from its staff as senior Elizabeth Hightower (3-0) hurled 4.0 innings and only allowed one hit, while junior Rylee Trlicek (Hallettsville, Texas) picked up her first save of the year with 3.0 quality innings worth of work in relief.
Over the weekend, Hightower threw 12.1 innings, struck out 12 batters and allowed only one run. The Monticello, Fla. native held opposing batters over that stretch to a .140 batting average.
In the game against USF (3-1), only a pair of Bulls were able to reach second base in the contest as the Gators defense made several highlight worthy plays. In the 2nd inning, senior Charla Echols (Newnan, Ga.) made an excellent stop down the third base line and the 2021 All-SEC Defensive Team third baseman a tremendous throw to Hannah Adams (Hoschton, Ga.) at second for a key force out.
Adams, a 2021 SEC All-Defensive Team second baseman, followed up in the 7th inning to roll an impressive 4-3 double play and freshman Kendra Falby (Odessa, Fla.) ended the game with a picturesque leaping grab in deep center field to end the game.
Offensively, 11 different Florida batters combined for 12 total hits in the contest with redshirt-junior Skylar Wallace (Woodstock, Ga.) leading the way going 2-for-3. In that group of hits was the first collegiate base knock for freshman catcher Cali Decker (Lake Mary, Fla.) along with the first hits of the season for Echols and Bryn Thomas (Trenton, Fla.).
With their hits today, Wallace, Adams and Falby extended their hitting streaks out to four games, while Lindsey is now on a three-game hitting streak.
In addition, Falby stole her fourth base in as many games and Wallace notched her third of the season in today’s game.
The Gators return to action Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. with a single game at Jacksonville and then will host the Dolphins the following day at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium at 6 p.m.

Notables:

*   UF improved to 58-13 all-time against USF.
*   Head Coach Tim Walton now holds a career record of 966-246 as he is in his 20th season of being a head coach.
*   UF now has three shutouts in four games played in the 2022 season and the pitching staff has held opposing batters to a .128 batting average at the plate.
*   Today was also the second game of the season that Florida batters have produced 10 or more hits in a game.
*   Hannah Adams, Kendra Falby and Skylar Wallace each have a four-game hitting streak, while Cheyenne Lindsey is on a three-game streak.
*   Overall the Gators have nine stolen bases on the season with Falby (4-for-4), Wallace (3-for-3) and Adams (2-for-2) leading the way.