Gator’s Lorenzen and Rebel’s Taylor nab SEC weekly awards

Following the Florida Gators notching their first two SEC wins of the year, and first ever under head coach Cam Newbauer, senior forward Haley Lorenzen was named SEC player of the week. It was the first time a Gator was awarded one of the weekly honors this season. As for the SEC freshman of the week, we saw a name we’ve become accustomed to seeing: Promise Taylor of Ole Miss. This week marks the third time Taylor has won the award but first since the week of December 5.

Lorenzen notched a double-double in both of Florida’s wins last week, averaging 15 ppg, 11.5 rpg,3 apg and 1.5 bpg on the week. Against Ole Miss, a game that saw the Gators win by one, Lorenzen hauled in a career high 13 rebounds. In the fourth quarter, the Iowa City native dominated, recording seven points, seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Her offensive rebound putback with 27 seconds left proved to be the game winner. She followed up that bucket by blocking the Rebel’s attempt to win the game, a blocked shot that the Gators corralled to win the game. She finished the game with 18 points and the double-double was her 11th of the season.

For Ole Miss, despite the loss to Florida, the freshman Taylor continued to impress. In their game against No. 11/12 Missouri, Taylor had 16 points and 13 rebounds, the latter stat a career high. She notched six blocks on the week (four against Mizzou) and was 6-for-8 from the floor in both games. She remains the top shooting FG% freshman in the conference and ranks 5th overall at 59.5% and ranks 15th nationally with 2.7 blocks per game. She has now recorded four or more blocks in six different games this season.

After the week, Florida is now 10-10 (2-5) and sit at 10th in the SEC while Ole Miss is now 11-8 (1-5) and are in 11th.