Deana Allen (Houma, La.) scored 12 points and led another balanced offensive effort for the University of Florida women’s basketball team that handed No. 22/24 Arkansas its first loss of the season and opened Southeastern Conference action with a 64-53 victory Sunday afternoon at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Gators (11-4, 1-0 SEC) earned their first win this season against a nationally ranked opponent and notched the program’s 43rd upset over a higher-ranked team.
Sunday’s outcome also marked the 600th varsity win in the 37-year history of the program.
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“I am especially proud of the win and starting the SEC season this way,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “But at the same time, I am not surprised at the outcome because we had a great few days of preparation leading up to this. We were really focused and really intense. We saw a really resilient effort in practice, where I think we felt really confident.”
Florida extended its 16-point halftime lead to 19 after Jaterra Bond’s (Gainesville, Fla.) three-pointer with 17:36 remaining gave the Gators a 43-24 advantage.
The teams then traded scores and the Razorbacks (12-1, 0-1 SEC) slowly whittled their deficit down to nine points, 58-49, with 4:25 left thanks to back-to-back treys from Lyndsay Harris.
Bonds countered with a bucket for the Gators with 3:21 on the clock and that would be the last field goal for Florida, which committed five of its 21 turnovers during the final 2:38 of the game and missed the front end of two one-and-ones as part of four missed free throw attempts after Harris’ two free throws cut UF’s lead to nine, 60-51 with 2:32 remaining.
Jordan Jones (Suwanee,Ga.) and Allen both stepped up and connected on a pair from the line in the final 41 seconds, however, to help Florida score its last points from the charity stripe and hold on for its ninth consecutive home victory.
Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) contributed 10 points along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in 28 minutes of action, while Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) added 10 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots in 16 minutes of work.
Freshman guard Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) brought down a game and career-high eight rebounds, in addition to scoring nine points.
Arkansas, which had entered Sunday’s game as one of only four undefeated NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball teams, shot a season-low 31.7 percent from the floor, including a 3-of-18 effort from the three-point arc. Florida won the rebounding battle, 45-38, but the Razorbacks rallied in the second half, when they pulled down five more boards and scored five more points.
The Gators shot 45.5 percent overall, marking the sixth consecutive game Florida has shot better than 40 percent from the field.
“I’m especially proud of the defensive effort, because there is no question that that is what sustained it,” Butler said. “We had some blips with some missed layups, some missed free throws and some key offensive plays, but our defense sustained us during those times.
“We were really trying to set the tone coming out of the gate and we did a really good job of that in the first half,” Butler continued. “In the second half, we didn’t, and we struggled a bit. This win was really important for our confidence, but also we wanted to send that message that this is a tough place to play.”
Arkansas missed its first four shots of the game, as well as a pair of free throw attempts, while Florida built a 4-0 lead behind buckets from Madu and Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Sarah Watkins finally got the Razorbacks on the scoreboard with an inside jumper, but Madu and Bonds, who dropped in a nifty lay-in after running the length of the court and dribbling around her back in traffic, tallied the next four points of the game and lifted the Gators to a six-point spread, 8-2.
The Gators extended their lead to seven after a 4-1 march with inside buckets from George and Deaundra Young (Titusville, Fla.).
Watkins nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Florida responded with a 13-2 spree over the next 3:49 and assumed a 27-11 lead.
Lyndsay Harris connected on a pair of free throws with 7:24 on the clock to stop the run that featured scoring from Young, George, Bartley, Allen and Madu, who nailed a 17-footer 20 seconds after Harris’ charity tosses.
Florida had built the 18-point lead with scoring from six different players, while three of the Gators top five scorers were among those contributing to that stage.
That didn’t last long, as Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) nailed her first points of the game, a three-pointer, on the heels of four consecutive Razorback points and gave Florida a 34-17 advantage with 2:31 remaining in the first half.
Florida was able to maintain the double-figure spread, entering the locker room with a 38-22 lead.
Seven different Gators scored in the opening frame, when Florida dominated the boards, 27-15, and shot a healthy 47.1 percent from the floor (16-34), while Arkansas managed to hit only 26.9 percent (7-26) of its attempts.
The Razorbacks top two scorers, C’eira Rickets and Lyndsay Harris were unable to connect on a field goal during the opening first half, both missing all five of their respective attempts. Watkins stepped up with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting to lead Arkansas.
