Florida’s Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) and Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) each scored a team-high 12 points and the Gators returned to their winning ways Thursday by holding off Alabama, 70-64, in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Gators (13-9, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) led by three, 56-53, late in the tightly-contested game before a three-pointer by Bonds widened the team’s edge to six, 59-53, with 2:25 left on the clock. After a pair of free throws by Alabama’s Kaneisha Horn brought the tide within four, 59-55, George was fouled in the process of making a put-back. She completed the three-point play to extend the Gators’ lead to seven, 62-55, with 1:43 remaining in the game. The Crimson Tide got as close as four, 68-64, with 11 seconds left, but Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) iced the game with a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
Florida, which trailed by two points at halftime and was down by as many as six points in the game, rallied for its third win this season when trailing at intermission. Thursday’s game marked the 13th time in 22 games this season that the Gators had a game decided by 10 or fewer points.
“I’m really, really pleased with the outcome,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “I said at the beginning of our preparation to our team that the fact that they hadn’t won an SEC ballgame was, in no way, a reflection of what was going to happen here tonight. They’re not an 0-8 team, they’ve just not been able to get some bounces and hit some shots. They’re very, very talented and play very hard. I’m much more proud of our team and the fight, maturity and the composure that we showed in some game moments that earlier we hadn’t shown that same sort of composure. That’s big steps for us. That’s great growth and, more than anything, it’s just really, really confidence-building going into Starkville and this next game. It’s a really, really tough place to play and again a very similar situation – a team that is very talented, athletic and is just going to fight you. You’ve got to bring your best.”
Bonds scored 12 points and brought down a team-high eight rebounds, which tied her career high on the boards. George added 12 points and brought down five rebounds in the winning effort.
Florida used a balanced offensive output that featured seven players who scored seven or more points apiece in the game. The Gators shot 39.7 percent (25-of-63) from the floor in the game, including an impressive 50 percent (13-of-26) shooting performance from the field in the final period. Alabama shot 33.3 percent (24-of-72), but was limited to just 28.6 percent (10-of-35) from the floor in the second half.
The Gators held the rebounding advantage 52-41, improving to 12-4 this season when winning the battle of the boards. Florida was relentless on the offensive glass, outscoring the Crimson Tide 22-9 in second-chance points.
Stewart scored seven points and brought down seven rebounds, while adding a game-high five blocks. The five rejections tie Stewart’s career high and five her 111 blocks for her Florida career. She surpassed Aneika Henry (2007-09) for sixth-place on the school’s all-time career blocks list.
Junior forward Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) tallied nine points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of action, while junior guard Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville , Fla.) scored nine points and dished out a game-high five assists. Junior guard Deana Allen (Houma, La.) also added nine points to go along with seven boards in 20 minutes of play.
In a first half that featured 13 lead changes, Alabama took a 32-30 advantage into the locker room at intermission. Florida shot just 32.4 percent (12-of-37) from the floor in the opening period, while the Crimson Tide made 37.8 percent (14-of-37) of its shots from the field. The Gators held a 28-22 advantage on the boards in the opening period, but the Gators committed seven turnovers that resulted in 12 Alabama points.
The Crimson Tide jumped to an early 11-5 lead to begin the game, following seven consecutive points from Celiscia Farmer that broke a closely contested first few minutes of the game. Florida slowly began chipping away at its deficit to cut within two, 13-11, with 9:41 remaining until intermission, after Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) nailed a three-pointer from the left corner. The two teams began trading points until back-to-back baskets by George and Bonds gave the Gators the lead, 20-19, at the 7:16 mark to force an Alabama timeout.
Those consecutive hoops capped a 7-2 run by Florida over a 56-second span. The lead then changed seven more times before Alabama took a 30-26 advantage at the 3:14 mark after a three-pointer by Jasmine Robinson and a pair of free throws from Horn. The Crimson Tide then went more than three minutes without a basket late in the second half, allowing the Gators to know the score at 30-all with 18.6 seconds left on a pair of charity shots by freshman guard Brittany Shine (Sacramento, Calif.). Alabama’s Ericka Russell connected on a lay-up with 2.3 seconds remaining to give the Crimson Tide a two-point halftime advantage.
Florida opened the second half on a 6-0 run that put it in front 36-32 with 17:20 left in the game, sparking a larger 11-2 run over the game’s first 4:32 that gave the Gators a 41-34 advantage. UF opened the second half, making five of its first 10 shots from the field. Alabama’s Tierney Jenkins canned back-to-back baskets to spark a 6-2 Crimson Tide run that brought them within three, 43-40, at the 12:56 mark of the second half.
Alabama cut within one, 46-45, after a three-pointer by Russell and a basket from Robinson with 10:59 left. From there, the Gators engineered an 8-2 run that was capped by five consecutive Bartley points at the 6:04 mark to extend Florida’s advantage to 54-47.
The Crimson Tide (11-10, 0-8 SEC) were led by Horn’s career-high 21 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Jenkins added 14 points and 16 rebounds in 39 minutes of play.
Florida returns to action on Sunday, when it travels to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. ET and the game will be carried live on ESPNU and WBXY-FM in Gainesville.
POST-GAME NOTES
· Florida improved to 13-9 overall and 3-5 in the Southeastern Conference, while Alabama dropped to 11-10 and 0-8 in league play.
· The Gators snapped a four-game losing streak with Thursday’s victory.
· The Crimson Tide still lead the all-time series between the two teams, 28-21, but the Gators hold a 12-7 edge when the game is played in Gainesville.
· Florida used the starting lineup of Deana Allen, Lanita Bartley, Jordan Jones, Ndidi Madu and Azania Stewart for the fifth time this season and the second consecutive game. The Gators are 3-2 with the current starting lineup.
· Thursday’s game marked the 13th time in 22 contests this season that Florida has had a game decided by 10 points or fewer.
· Freshman guard Jaterra Bonds and sophomore forward Jennifer George led the way for the Gators with a team-high 12 points apiece.
· Junior center Azania Stewart tied her career high with five blocks in the game to give her 111 rejections for her collegiate career. Stewart surpassed Aneika Henry (2007-09) for sixth place on Florida’s all-time career blocks list.
