Florida Gators women's basketball


The Florida Gators women's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Southeastern Conference. The Gators play their home games at the O'Connell Center located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Cameron Newbauer, entering his third year.

History

Women's basketball was approved as a sport by University of Florida in March 1972, and began play in 1973 as a club team. In 1975, the Gators debuted as a varsity program under head coach Paula Welch. They made local headlines in 1976 by winning the "state championship" by beating the other three women's teams in the state at that time.
While historically overshadowed by divisional basketball powers Tennessee and Georgia, the Gators have made several NCAA Tournament appearances and sent players to the WNBA, such as DeLisha Milton-Jones. The winningest coach at Florida is Carol Ross, who guided the team for twelve seasons but left Florida to coach the women's basketball team at her alma mater, Ole Miss.
Florida's women's team was coached by Carolyn Peck, a former WNBA coach who won a national title with Purdue, from 2002 to 2007. Peck was fired midway through the 2006–2007 season, after enduring the worst losing streak of any Gator sports program.
Former University of Florida player and previous Charlotte coach Amanda Butler was named the new women's basketball coach on April 13, 2007, and remained in that position until 2017.
On March 27, 2017, Cameron Newbauer was announced as the 10th head coach of the University of Florida women's basketball program.

2018–19 Roster

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source

Player awards

National awards

Florida has produced a number of players for the Women's National Basketball Association.