Redshirt junior Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) powered up her first career double-double, junior Jordan Jones (Swuanee, Ga.) scored a game-high 19 points and Florida defeated Providence 73-56 in the second game of the Brown BEAR Basketball Classic hosted by Brown University at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday afternoon.
All 11 Gators who dressed for the game played, 10 of whom scored, as Florida improved to 7-1 overall and won its first game by more than 10 points.
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“I’m really, really proud of the overall team effort,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “There were some spurts of energy that Ndidi gave us and everyone fed off that. There were just a couple of fans in the stands so we had to generate our own energy and did a great job. We had different people at different parts of the ball game step up and make a difference.”
After Providence (5-5) closed within six points late in the first half, Florida ripped off an 11-4 run in the final 4:20 of the period to take a 39-26 halftime lead and was able to keep its advantage at double-figures for the remainder of the contest.
Florida shot a season-high 53.6 percent from the floor, hitting 28-of-57 shots, including a 6-of-15 effort from the three-point arc and an 11-of-14 mark from the free throw line.
“I’m proud of the individual effort our players put out in taking pride in shooting better than they have been,” Butler said. “Jordan got us out of the gates and hit a big three-pointer when the shot clock was winding down, that was all confidence.”
Madu, who grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and tied her season-high of 12 points, shot 5-of-8 from the floor in 22 minutes of action.
“Ndidi’s a special athlete,” Butler praised. “She shows us these flashes of greatness. She put a much more complete game together today. If she would play that way for a longer spurt, she’s just so tough to guard. I’m really, really proud of the way she played today.”
Jones nailed 7-of-13 shots from the floor, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers, while freshman Deaundra Young (Titusville, Fla.) added a career-best nine points with five rebounds, as the Gators won the rebounding battle 39-30.
Junior Deana Allen (Houma, La.) contributed four points with a career-high six rebounds, while Lily Svete (Granger, Ind.), Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) and Kayla Lewis (Decatur, Ga.) chipped in six points apiece. Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) dished a game-high six assists along with five points.
Tournament action concludes on Sunday, when Florida plays Brown (2-6) beginning at 2 p.m. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WBXY-FM 99.5 “The Star” and through the internet at www.GatorZone.com. Brown will have live scoring free on the internet and will provide video of the game for a $7 charge, with both links available through www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.
“It’s another opportunity for growth and maturity for our young team,” Butler said of Florida playing its third game in six days. “It will have to be more about Florida than about Brown tomorrow. We have to try and impose our style and have them adjust to us instead of us adjusting to them. The other thing we have to see is 40 minutes of our best. I thought we got closer to that today, but we had some lapses and lacked discipline.”
Providence defeated Brown, 55-30, on Friday in the opening game of the three-team tournament.
Miranda Tate scored a team-high 11 points for Providence, which shot 37 percent for the game (20-54), including 6-of-16 from the three-point arc.
Lanita Bartley scored the first points of the second half and gave Florida a 15-point lead, before the teams traded offensive scores, with the Gators’ using theirs to start a 7-0 run and push their lead to 48-28 with 13:45 remaining.
Providence called a timeout, settled down and scored the next six points of the game to cut the deficit to 14 points.
Jennifer George stopped the run with a short jumper inside, but the Friars answered with a three-pointer and closed to within 13 points with 10:09 on the clock.
Bartley followed with a driving layup and the defensive tandem of Jaterra Bonds and Deana Allen stepped and forced a turnover under in the ensuing inbound, as Bonds snared the steal and dumped the ball off to Allen, who sank the easy layin.
Ndidi Madu then nailed a 12-foot jumper and had the Gators in front, 56-38, with 7:31 to play.
Mairanda Tate stopped Florida’s 6-0 spurt with a trey. Bonds converted a driving layup, but Tate came right back with another from long range and reduced the Gator lead to 15 points with just over six minutes remaining.
Chandler McCabe then added another 3-pointer and the Friars inched closer, just as the Gators field goal percentage dropped under 50 percent for the first time in the game.
The Friars were able to whittle the Gator lead down to 11 with 3:18 to go, but Jones converted a pair of free throws and Madu followed with a layup inside and Florida was never really threatened again, scoring the final four points of the game, capped by a three-point play from Svete with 30 seconds remaining.
The teams traded buckets over the first four-plus minutes of the game, with the only difference a Friar three-pointer, as Providence grabbed the early lead. Another field goal inside and the Friars held a 7-4 advantage.
Florida came right back with an 8-0 spurt, as Jennifer George hit a shot in the paint, Deaundra Young completed a three-point play and Kayla Lewis stepped back and launched a deep three-pointer and gave the Gators a 12-7 edge with 11:32 on the clock.
Florida was hitting 46.2 percent (6-13) from the floor at this stage of the game, but had already committed four turnovers, while Providence was making 25 percent (4-16) of its shots.
In spite of struggling with their shot, the Friars found a way to mount a 7-2 run and tied the score at 14-all with 9:19 remaining.
The Gators continued their hot shooting and ended the period outscoring the Friars, 25-12 to take a 39-26 halftime lead. The run was ignited by Jordan Jones and Lily Svete, who nailed back-to-back treys, followed by another long two-point jumper for Jones and gave Florida an eight-point cushion.
After a short jumper from Lauren Okafor, the Gators pushed the lead to 10 with a 6-2 run, thanks to a free throw from Lanita Bartley, another jumper from Jones and a three-pointer from Jaterra Bonds.
Providence cut the deficit to six, but the Gators got scoring from Ndid Madu, Jones and Young, who combined for an 11-2 march and assumed a 39-24 lead after George stole the ball and throw the outlet to Jones, who hit the layup with 29 seconds remaining.
The Friars ended the scoring with a pair from the free throw line, as the Gators held a 13-point halftime lead, their largest of the season, while hitting 53.6 percent (15-28) from the field, also a season-high for a half.
The Gators, who missed all 11 of their three-point attempts in their last game, found their long-range touch during the first half against Providence, making 5-of-9 in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Jones’ 12 points led all first-half scorers, while Young added nine points and four rebounds for the Gators, who held a 19-14 rebounding edge.
SUNDAY’S GAME DAY INFORMATION
Florida (7-1) at Brown (2-6)
** Brown BEAR Basketball Classic **
Sun., December 5, 2010 - 2 pm ET
Pizzitola Sports Center (2,800) * Providence, R.I.
