Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) and Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) recorded double-doubles and Florida rallied from late deficit to earn a 54-51 victory against North Florida Tuesday evening in the O’Connell Center.
The Gators (3-1) found themselves trailing 47-42 with 6:32 remaining after the Ospreys (1-3) had scored five consecutive points after tying the game at 42-all.
Junior Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) halted the run with a three-pointer and freshman Kayla Lewis (Decatur, Ga.) stepped up with one of her own that sparked a eight-point swing, capped by a bucket from Stewart and the Gators took a 50-47 lead, of which they never relinquished.
All four of Florida’s games have been decided by 10 points or less, with three decided by six points or fewer, including Tuesday’s outing that featured five tied scores and eight lead changes.
“Obviously we feel fortunate to come out with a win,” said UF head coach Amanda Butler, whose team improved to 28-4 at home versus non-conferences teams during her four years. “Double-doubles from both our posts is fantastic. There are a lot of positives, the biggest positive being the win. There are a lot of things that we have to learn and a lot of things we have to improve before we take this show on the road again.”
Florida began the second half on a 12-2 run that erased a five-point halftime deficit and gave the Gators a 32-27 lead. Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) began the swing with a pair of free throws, Stewart hit a short jumper inside, George stole the ball at the top of the key and dribbled the length of the court and sank the layup and Jones nailed a three-pointer in front of the Gator bench to complete the spree.
After the teams traded scores, North Florida found its footing and scored the next seven points, capped by Juliemay Syquio’s three-point play, as the Ospreys held a 34-33 lead with 12:41 remaining.
Jones finally ended the run by canning her second trey of the game and lead turned hands again.
Four consecutive free throws from Brittany Kirkland swung the lead back to the visitors, 40-37, as Florida began to accumulate fouls that placed the Ospreys in the one-and-one situation with just under nine minutes left.
George converted a pair from the stripe and Bartley one to tie the game. UF’s defense held on the next possession, but the Gators were careless with the ball and the Ospreys forced a turnover and made Florida pay by hitting an inside bucket.
George struck again by floating in a driving layup, but was whistled for a foul on the other end of the floor, as Raneisha Lamar hit the bucket but missed the free throw, as North Florida held a 44-42 lead with 8:04 remaining.
Florida’s defense faltered and continued to allow multiple offensive rebounds that eventually led to a foul and the Ospreys added to their lead from the free throw line.
Jones stepped up and drained a three-pointer with 6:19 on the clock that cut the Gator deficit to two, 47-45, ending a field goal drought that lasted over five minutes.
The teams traded turnovers three consecutive possessions, before Lewis drained a three pointer from the right side.
George collected an errant shot on the other end and later found Stewart underneath the basket, as she hit the short jumper and gave Florida a 50-47 lead with 3:28 remaining.
Stewart then wrestled away a rebound on the defensive end and outlet to Bartley, as the Gators moved to the offensive end of the court but weren’t able to convert. That rebound marked her 10th of the game, securing Stewart’s third double-doubles of the season and the fourth of her career.
UNF missed again and Stewart corralled her 11th rebound of the game. The Gators missed on their next shot, but Stewart dove on the floor to get the loose ball and keep the possession.
Florida didn’t convert and Stewart was whistled for a foul, sending to the line Jadhken Kerr, who hit both free throws and brought the Ospreys within one, 50-49, with 48 seconds remaining.
UNF then fouled Bartley with 12 seconds remaining, stopping the clock and sending the Gator junior newcomer to the line, where she missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Stewart was there again, crashing the offensive board and putting back the miss that gave Florida a 52-49 edge with eight seconds remaining.
Syquio turned the ball over on the inbound and Bartley collected it and was sent back to the line four seconds later when she coolly sank both for a 54-49 lead.
UNF rushed back down the court, where Syquio dropped in short jumper before time expired, but it wasn’t enough as the Gators won their third home game of the year.
George, who entered the starting lineup for the first time this season, easily played her best game of the young season, contributing 13 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high four assists, four blocks and two steals in 30 minutes of action.
Bartley contributed six points, all from the free throw line, in addition to seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in 34 minutes, while Jones finished with nine points and a pair of steals for Florida, which shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, including a 5-of-19 showing from the three-point arc, but held a 48-38 rebounding advantage.
“We have to work on our feel for the game,” Butler said. “Ultimately, we won the ballgame because we made plays in the paint but, especially in the first half, we were continually trying to make plays from the three-point line and when the shot is not falling, you have to find something else to do. When it mattered most, we seemed to grasp what was working there.”
Kirkland scored a game-high 15 points, while Syquio added 11 points and Larkira Jones tallied 13 rebounds with five points for North Florida, which hit 29.8 percent from the floor, including a 24.1 percent effort in the second half.
Neither team shot the ball well to start the game, as Florida committed three turnovers and missed its first three shots before George lofted a short jumper in the paint two and a half minutes into the contest. North Florida didn’t connect on its first nine attempts of the game, before Brittany Kirkland converted a short shot under the basket.
The Gators took an early 6-2 lead, but the Ospreys found their touch while Florida repeated turned the ball over, scoring nine consecutive points to take an 11-6 advantage. After Bartley’s free throw, North Florida struck again with a bucket and then followed with its third three-pointer of half to take a 16-7 lead with 10:10 to go in the period.
Lewis finally ended Florida’s field goal drought that lasted nearly four and half minutes and canned a three-pointer from the right side. That bucket ignited a 7-0 Gator swing, as Stewart hit a inside basket and George put-back her own miss and forced UNF into a timeout.
Florida continued its march, turning up the tempo, forcing turnovers while taking better care of the ball, as Stewart put back an offensive rebound. George’s driving layup extended UF’s run to 11 points and gave the Gators an 18-16 lead at the 5:16 mark of the period.
Kirkland halted UF’s offensive spree with a three-pointer with 4:29 on the clock, and swung the lead back in the Osprey’s favor. The started another UNF run, this one was nine consecutive points, as the visitors assumed a 25-18 lead.
Florida committed four more turnovers during UNF’s run and didn’t get back on the board until Jones found Deana Allen (Houma, La.) under the basket, as she converted the layup with eight seconds left and brought Florida within five, 25-20, as the Gators entered the halftime break trailing for the first time this season.
Florida ended the half with 11 miscues and shooting just 29 percent from the floor, including a 1-of-6 effort from the three-point arc.
While also committing 11 turnovers, North Florida shot a bit better at 35.7 percent, but managed 4-of-8 from long range to secure the halftime lead.
The Gators next travel to Orono, Maine, where the University of Maine plays host to the Dead River Company Classic. Florida takes on South Alabama on Fri., Nov. 25 at 4 p.m., while Navy plays Maine in the second game that day. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m., after the noon consolation game.
