Everything Kelly Rae Finley said after Florida's loss to South Carolina

Florida women’s basketball head coach Kelly Rae Finley spoke with the media following a 74-63 loss to South Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Amerant Bank Arena.

Here’s everything she had to say.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball! 🏀

Opening Statement

“That was a great basketball game. Thanks to all of the Gator Nation that was able to come out and support. I just encourage you to continue to show up for this team because they’re fun to watch. They deserve you to be there. We need your support. And I think we’re a little bit frustrated. I’m a little frustrated. It’s a very good South Carolina team. They’re very well coached and very disciplined. I thought we did an exceptionally good job of sticking to our game plan, executing, and fighting to the end. There’s probably a two-possession basketball game there to end the game until we started fouling. But that’s the tip of the iceberg Florida basketball is, and where we’re headed. And I just encourage everybody to come out, show up, and help us complete.”

How do you feel about Emilija Dakic’s performance?

“You know, Mills just earned the opportunity. When we watch film back, she makes very limited errors, if any errors at all, on the court. She’s steady, she’s consistent. She’s bought in, she knows what’s expected of her, she believes that her role is important. I would say that about our team. I think that, you know, Mills mental transitions separate her, and make us better on both ends of the floor. I thought she played a good game tonight, though I know we wanted to come out on the other end with a victory.”

Dawn said that she felt like y’all spend them up on offense. What were y’all doing offensively to kind of keep them out of rhythm in your opinion?

You know, Liv sets the tone for us defensively with guarding the ball. I thought this was her best defensive game by far of the season. Probably our best full complete game, on both sides of the ball, as well as controlling the tempo and what we’re doing. Defensively, I thought we were really bought in and locked into the game plan. We played tendencies very, very well. We understood the assignment of keeping them out of the paint, forcing long shots, long contested 2s. You know, we forced them into 21 three-pointers. I think that might be a season high for them in terms of attempts. Held them 10 points below their average on their paint touches. And so, you know, South Carolina’s a very disciplined team. They’re determined to get what they want. And I thought we did a good job of keeping them out of that rhythm.”

Liv McGill matching up with Raven Johnson, it’s like iron sharpens iron, what is it like going up against a defender like her?

“Raven’s a good defender. I thought that they defended each other extremely well. Liv had a different matchup on the other end of the floor a lot of the game. She’s a handsy defender. Liv does an exceptionally good job understanding the angles, game plan, situations, and just being able to put us in a position to be successful. That is a good matchup that I thought Liv excelled in.”

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!