Gators Golden Journey Throughout WBIT

The Florida Gators have had a fantastic run to the Final Four in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.

After an even season going 17-17 prior to the WBIT, the Gators are hot with three straight wins against University of Northern Iowa, UNLV, and Texas Tech. Following a dominating 83-71 victory against UNI to start off their journey, Florida has held steady to secure back-to-back nailbiters — including a buzzer beater by Florida Senior Kenza Salgues to win the game against UNLV 86-84.

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After defeating Texas Tech this past Thursday 67-63, the Gators secured their spot in the semifinals. Florida will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers tonight in Indianapolis at 5 p.m. in the WBIT. There will be some added pressure on the team tonight, however, as their head coach Kelly Rae Finley will not be on the sidelines. Finley will miss the game tonight as she prepares for the arrival of her baby. As a result, Assistant Coach Susie Gardener will take the reins and hope to lead the Gators to the championship game. Tip-off will take place in Hinkle Fieldhouse, a large basketball arena in Indianapolis that seats just under 10,000 spectators.

Standout Players

With the absence of their coach, Florida players will have to be more focused than ever. We can expect that Jeriah Warren, Kenza Salgues and Liv McGill will all come through with high performances. These three players have made a noticeable impact for Florida to be where they are today.

In the past several games of the WBIT, Senior Jeriah Warren has scored over 20 points, including her career high of 28 points against UNI. The 6-foot guard has helped lead this team to the semifinals with freshman Liv McGill and fellow Senior Kenza Salgues by her side.

Moving over to Liv McGill, the freshman guard has had an influential season at Florida — scoring a total of 593 points in her first year. She was the top scorer for both the Texas Tech and UNLV games with 22 points scored in each.

Finally, Senior guard Kenza Salgues had the golden shot in the first round of the WBIT against UNLV to advance the Gators to the quarterfinals. She was also one of the top scorers in the game on Thursday night against Texas Tech to help get the victory and send the team to the final four of the WBIT.

Tune In

Broadcasting for the game can be found on ESPNU or right here on WRUF starting at 4:40 p.m.

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