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Tennessee Lady Vols preview at Florida: Live stream, game time, TV and radio info

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 3, 2018; Gainesville, FL, USA; General view of the Exactech Arena before the game between the Florida Gators and Kentucky Wildcats at the Stephen C. O'Connell Ce. Mandatory Credit: Matt Stamey-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2018; Gainesville, FL, USA; General view of the Exactech Arena before the game between the Florida Gators and Kentucky Wildcats at the Stephen C. O'Connell Ce. Mandatory Credit: Matt Stamey-USA TODAY Sports /
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Coming off a tough overtime win at home over the Arkansas Razorbacks at home Monday to rebound from their shocking loss at the Auburn Tigers last Thursday, the Tennessee Lady Vols are back on the road this Thursday. They are also facing a much tougher team than Auburn.

Ranked No. 7 in both polls, Kellie Harper will take her program south to face the Florida Gators. Led by Kelly Rae Finley, Florida is coming off a loss to the No. 1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. However, before that, they did win five straight.

Last week’s loss appears to have cost Rocky Top its No. 1 seed projection for now, and while Florida is a tough game given what they’re going through, it’s also the chance at another quality win. Here’s all the information you need for the Tennessee Lady Vols’ matchup.

526. Gainesville, Fla.. 6 p.m. ET. 19-2 (8-1). Thursday, Feb. 3. 15-6 (5-3). 534. Exactech Arena

Broadcast info

Not only has Florida won five of six, but they have scored quality wins. Before the South Carolina game, they beat the LSU Tigers, who are currently ranked No. 15 in both polls. They also beat the Texas A&M Aggies and Kentucky Wildcats on the road when both teams were ranked.

Finley should honestly be National Coach of the Year at this point. She was named interim head coach after Cameron Newbauer resigned last summer, which preceded reports that he physically and verbally abused his players and staff. Already, Finley has matched Newbauer’s career-high in wins over four seasons at Florida, as he never did better than 15-15.

What’s helping Finley is the return of three players who started the majority of the season last year and seven of nine rotational players. She did have four starters and eight of nine rotational players back, but second-leading scorer Lavender Briggs transferred out in January, another argument for her to earn Coach of the Year.

Florida also added Rutgers Scarlet Knights transfer Zippy Broughton along with true freshman Alberte Rimdale and Taliyah Wyche. Also, Emanuely de Oliveira returned and is now starting after missing last year’s season due to the fact that she couldn’t return to the U.S. after traveling to her home country of Brazil during the pandemic.

Simply put, Florida is much deeper than last year’s team that went 12-14 and 3-11 in SEC play, but Finley still deserves credit for the drastic turnaround. On the other side, Harper’s team has to be ready to have its hands full with this squad.

Although they did beat Arkansas, they are far from being in good shape. They had to come back from 13 down, and it happened after the Hogs lost leading scorer Makayla Daniels. In reality, UT hasn’t looked the same ever since Keyen Green was lost for the season at the Georgia Bulldogs. Their lack of post depth is proving costly, and they have to address it.

Next. Lady Vols' all-time team. dark

After this game, the Tennessee Lady Vols have a huge matchup Sunday at the UConn Huskies as those two schools resume their rivalry. Florida, meanwhile, begins a three-game road, starting with the Georgia Bulldogs that same Sunday.