The Florida women’s basketball program is in search of a new head coach after athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Kelly Rae Finley’s dismissal on Monday. She had been at the helm of the Lady Gators for five seasons before being fired.
“We are grateful for Coach Finley’s commitment to the program and the student-athletes during her time in Gainesville and wish her and her family the very best moving forward,” Stricklin said in a release.
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The Minneapolis native first arrived at UF in 2017 as an assistant under the previous head coach, Cameron Newbauer, and was promoted to associate head coach in 2019. She ascended to the interim head coach position in July 2021 after Neubauer resigned amid allegations of verbally and emotionally abusing some of his players.
The role became permanent after Finley led the Lady Gators to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, amassing a 21-11 overall record and 10-6 mark in conference play while peaking at No. 15 in the rankings nationally during the 2021-22 campaign. Finley officially became the ninth head coach of the women’s basketball team in April 2022.
Alas, that would be the high-water mark of her tenure, as Florida put up a mediocre 72-64 tally over the next four seasons combined, finishing with no more than 19 wins or 18 losses. The Lady Gators went 5-11 in an incredibly competitive SEC all four of those seasons.
“I’d like to thank the administration for entrusting me with the development of Florida’s women’s basketball team over these last four-plus seasons,” said Finley. “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with a number of amazing coaches, support staff and boosters during my time in Gainesville who believed in what we were doing to put Florida women’s basketball back on the map.
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Florida finished the 2025-26 regular season with an 18-15 record, defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the opening round of the SEC Tournament before succumbing to the Oklahoma Sooners, in what turned out to be Finley’s final game with the Orange and Blue.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida women’s basketball fires head coach Kelly Rae Finley
