FSU women's basketball looks to extend winning streak over rival Florida in Gainesville
The Florida State women's basketball team has definitely had rival Florida's number of late.
Entering today's rivalry clash between the Seminoles (6-2) and Gators (8-3) at the Stephen O'Connell Center in Gainesville (1 p.m. on SEC Network), FSU has won five straight games over UF.
It's FSU's longest winning streak in the rivalry since it won seven straight over UF between 1978 and 1980. It has also allowed the Seminoles to dramatically cut into Florida's all-time series lead, which now sits at just 44-38 in favor of the Gators.
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This domination of the Gators recently is largely in line with what FSU has done against in-state opponents as a whole. The Seminoles have lost just six of their last 52 games against teams from Florida and will look for their third win over a Florida opponent against the Gators.
The path here
After a tough Thanksgiving week that saw FSU lose consecutive games to BYU and Purdue in the St. Pete Showcase, the Seminoles bounced back last week.
FSU convincingly beat Illinois 67-58 in its ACC/Big Ten Challenge game and then thoroughly dismantled Charleston Southern in an 83-32 victory.
The Gators are being led by interim head coach Kelly Rae Finley after former head coach Cam Newbauer resigned in July. Reports of emotional and physical abuse from players on the team emerged in the months after his departure.
Despite this turmoil, Finley has UF out to a strong start as the Gators look for the first NCAA Tournament bid since 2016.
The Gators are heavily led by the trio of Lavender Briggs, Kiara Smith and Jordyn Merritt. Each of them are averaging over 11 points and over 5 rebounds this season, accounting for nearly 56% of UF's scoring this season between them.
Morgan Jones leading on, off court for FSU
FSU senior guard Morgan Jones has become quite the stabilizing force for the Seminoles.
She enters this weekend's game at UF averaging 14.8 points per game, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this season. She's scored 10-plus points in each of her last seven games, the longest-such streak of her collegiate career.
Perhaps more importantly than that, Jones was named as one of 30 finalists for the women's basketball Senior CLASS Award earlier this week.
The award, given annually to a graduating senior, recognizes extraordinary efforts in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Jones fits all of these bills as an All-ACC honoree, a multi-time All-ACC Academic honoree and someone who has been involved in a multitude of off-court projects during her time at FSU. She created the Black Student Athlete Association and has been heavily involved with the FSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during her time as a Seminole.
Florida State at Florida
When: Today, 1 p.m.
Where: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida
TV/Radio: SEC Network/96.5 FM
Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Morgan Jones leading on, off court for FSU women's basketball
