Gator Country

Florida women's basketball coach Amanda Butler and the Gators face a challenging schedule, beginning with participation in the Preseason WNIT. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

Florida women’s basketball coach Amanda Butler announced the team’s 2010-11 schedule, which features 12 teams that competed in the postseason last year, including eight that played in the NCAA Tournament.

Florida will play at least 14 home games in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, where the Gators are 38-13 record in three years under Butler’s guidance. Eight of those games will be against Southeastern Conference foes.

The Gators begin the season in the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), playing host to UCF on Nov. 6. The WNIT field includes 14 teams that played in the 2009-10 postseason and seven that won their respective conference tournaments. The 2010 Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The event opens Nov. 12-13 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played Nov. 14-15; semifinals will be Nov. 17-18; and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 21. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 19-20. All games are hosted by participating schools, and sites are announced by the end of the preceding round.

“We’ve assembled a great non-conference schedule that will get us ready for the rigors of the SEC,” said Butler, who is the first coach to lead the Gators to the postseason in each of her first three years. “We are really proud and excited to be opening our season in the WNIT. It’s a great honor to be invited and the 2010 field is an impressive one. It’s a great way to get ready for the rest of our November schedule and what’s ahead in the month of December.”

Over the holiday break, Florida welcomes Alabama State, Robert Morris and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to the O’Connell Center for the Gator Holiday Classic on Dec. 20-21. The squad then wraps up its non-conference schedule Dec. 28 in Tallahassee against rival Florida State.

“We’re testing a team in a lot of different ways by suiting up against opponents that play in a number of different conferences and play different styles of basketball,” Butler said. “We’re going to do everything we can to get ready to compete for an SEC championship.”

Florida begins its SEC slate hosting Arkansas on Jan. 2 for the first of four home games in January, with the others on Jan. 13 against Tennessee, Jan. 20 against Kentucky and Jan. 27 versus Alabama. In February, Florida returns home to the friendly confines of the O’Connell Center with two consecutive home games, playing host to Mississippi on Feb. 3 and Vanderbilt on Feb. 6. Florida returns home to play Mississippi State on Feb. 20 and closes out the regular season with a home contest against Georgia on Feb. 27.

The 12-team SEC Tournament will be held in The Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn., March 3-6.

Start times for all of Florida’s games are pending the television schedule, which will be announced at a later date.

FLORIDA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 2010-11 SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER
13 (Saturday) UCF (WNIT first round)
14-15 (Sun.-Mon.) WNIT second round
17-18 (Wed.-Thurs.) WNIT semifinals
19-20 (Fri.-Sat.) WNIT consolation of two-loss teams
21 (Sunday) WNIT Championship
23 (Tuesday) NORTH FLORIDA
26-27 (Fri.-Sat.) at University of Maine Tournament with Maine, Navy, South Alabama
30 (Tuesday) OLD DOMINION

DECEMBER
04-05 (Sat.-Sun.) at Brown Bears Basketball Classic with Brown, Holy Cross, Providence
07 (Tuesday) HARVARD
10 (Friday) at Hampton
20-21 (Mon.-Tues.) GATOR HOLIDAY CLASSIC with Alabama State, Robert Morris, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
28 (Tuesday) at Florida State

JANUARY
02 (Sunday) ARKANSAS (SEC)
06 (Thursday) at Auburn (SEC)
09 (Sunday) at South Carolina (SEC)
13 (Thursday) TENNESSEE (SEC)
16 (Sunday) at Georgia (SEC)
20 (Thursday) KENTUCKY (SEC)
23 (Sunday) at Louisiana State (SEC)
27 (Thursday) ALABAMA (SEC)
30 (Sunday) at Mississippi State (SEC)

FEBRUARY
03 (Thursday) MISSISSIPPI (SEC)
06 (Sunday) VANDERBILT (SEC)
10 (Thursday) at Tennessee (SEC)
13 (Sunday) at Alabama (SEC)
20 (Sunday) MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC)
24 (Thursday) at Vanderbilt (SEC)
27 (Sunday) GEORGIA (SEC)

MARCH
03 (Thursday) SEC Tournament/first round at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
04 (Friday) SEC Tournament/second round at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
05 (Saturday) SEC Tournament/semifinals at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
06 (Sunday) SEC Tournament/championship at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
19-21 (Sat.-Mon.) NCAA Tournament/first-second rounds
20-22 (Sun.-Tues.) (The Pit/Bob King Court, Albuquerque, N.M.; Auburn Arena, Auburn, Ala.; John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va.; Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; Comcast Center, College Park, Md.; St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio; Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, N.C.; Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.; Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah; CenturyTel Center, Shreveport, La.; McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Wash.; Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif.; Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.; Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa.; Ferrell Center, Waco, Texas; INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan.)
26-28 (Sat.-Mon.) NCAA Tournament/regional semifinals-finals (Dayton Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio; Spokane Regional, Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash.)
27-29 (Sun.-Tues.) NCAA Tournament/regional semifinals-finals (Philadelphia Regional, The Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pa.; Dallas Regional, American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas)

APRIL
03 (Sunday) NCAA Tournament/Final Four semifinals at Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.
05 (Tuesday) NCAA Tournament/Final Four championship at Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.

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