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The Kentucky women's basketball team travels to Florida today to try to avenge the loss the Gators hung on them back on January 5th. Kentucky is coming off a big win over the LSU Tigers at home, and the Gators are coming off a loss at Arkansas.
Since beating Kentucky, the Gators have had their ups and downs, losing to both ranked teams they have played on the road, Tennessee and LSU. Florida has been shooting the ball well at home and poorly on the road.
To win this game, Kentucky must:
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Shoot the ball well. Kentucky has been up and down with shooting this season, but mostly down since the new year.
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Force turnovers. If the "40 minutes of dread" cannot create turnover opportunities for the Wildcats, they are unlikely to pull this one out.
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Make layups. The Wildcats have struggled lately to make layups, and doing that on the road is a recipe for disaster.
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Take judicious threes. Kentucky's 3-point percentage has been over 30% only 3 times this month. They need to take better shots, and shoot a better percentage, because the 3-point shot is one of their major weapons.
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Defend better in transition. When Florida last played Kentucky, the Wildcats' transition defense was very poor.
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Shoot better free throws. Kentucky was only 39% against LSU from the line.
This is an important game for the Wildcats, because if they lose this one, they'll be out of the top 15 and headed out of the top 25. They need to keep their ranking up, because right now, they are getting dangerously close to a seed that will make a deep NCAA run difficult. They hold their fate in their hands, and I recommend they treat it with care.
Go, 'Cats!
