Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) scored a game-high 18 points and Florida’s defense held UMBC to four field goals in the second half as the Gators defeated the Retrievers, 59-47, in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Friday in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Florida used a 20-3 run early in the second half to turn an eight-point deficit into a 51-42 lead with 11:43 remaining and never trailed again, as UMBC (20-12) managed only one field goal in the final 18:02 of the game, connecting on 4-of-26 in the second frame.
The Gators (19-14) advance to the WNIT second round where they will play Florida Gulf Coast (28-3) on Monday, March 21 at Alico Arena, where tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Eagles defeated Drexel, 73-67, in their opening-round game, when they extended their home winning streak to 42 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak in the country behind only Connecticut (81) and Stanford (61).
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“Obviously, we are very pleased to be able to win and play another day,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “There are a lot of things we have to do better and you never know when you have such a huge gap between games, what will happen. We had fantastic practices, but it is a little bit different practicing hard and bringing it to the games. It took us a second to get going but the second half was a little bit more of what we wanted to see based on the practices and preparation that we had.”
Florida found itself on the short end of a 32-31 halftime score, as UMBC shot a healthy 53.8 percent (14-26) from the floor in the first half. It was the 14th time this season the Gators found themselves trailing after the first 20 minutes of action and it was the sixth time they were able to overcome the deficit and rally for the win.
“[Defense] is what I was most disappointed with in the first half,” Butler said. “I didn’t have to be disappointed when I came into the locker room with our defensive effort in the first half because [our players] knew that we fell short of the effort we expected in the first 20 minutes. I think that was the change in everything; the change in offensive momentum and the energy that you saw these two (Jaterra Bonds and Jordan Jones), in particular Jordan coming out and hitting a couple of threes. I think a lot of that came from the defensive end and us getting some stops.”
The Retrievers scored the first seven points of the second half and built upon their one-point halftime lead for a 39-31 advantage with 18:02 remaining.
Deana Allen (Houma, La.) finally got Florida on the board in the second half and opened the scoring for the home team, as Allen’s bucket sparked a 12-0 run that featured a three-pointer from Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) and seven consecutive points from Jones, all from inside the arc, and Florida regained the lead, 43-39, with 14:08 to play.
Erin Brown ended the Gator spree with a three-pointer that ripped the nets as the shot clock horn sounded, but UF came right back with a three-point play from Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) and Jones’ third three-pointer of the game and the Gators’ lead swelled to seven points.
After Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) chased down a long defensive rebound on the other end, she found Jones who nailed a deep jumper with her toe on the arc and Florida had a 51-42 lead with 11:43 remaining.
UMBC came back with four consecutive points from the free throw line and cut UF’s lead to four.
The teams traded one from the charity stripe before Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) connected on both ends of a one-and-one with 5:18 on the clock.
Bartley then converted an acrobatic driving layup and gave the Gators a 56-47 lead with 4:41 to play.
Bonds followed with her third trey of the game and Florida held its largest advantage, 59-47, with 3:02 remaining. Those were the final points scored by either team, as the Gators emerged with the victory and won their 11th consecutive non-conference home game.
Jones hit 6-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-4 three pointers to lead Florida, which sank 8-of-18 from beyond the arc during the game. Bonds added 13 points, while Bartley chipped in nine points with five rebounds and four assists. Madu and George both collected seven rebounds to lead the Gators, which held a 39-31 rebounding edge.
Tope Obajolu scored 16 points and Erin Brown tallied 15 to lead the Retrievers’ offensively, while Meghan Colabella brought down a game-high 13 rebounds with nine points.
Neither team showed any signs of a nearly two-week break since its last game, as both hit 4-of-6 from the floor to start, the lone difference in scoring was a Jordan Jones three-pointer and Florida held a 9-8 lead.
The Gators also tried pushing the tempo and committed five quick turnovers during the opening minutes of the game.
The teams cooled off a bit, but Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) put in a driving layup and grabbed UMBC’s ensuing missed shot on the other end, before Jones knocked down her second trey of the half and gave Florida a 14-8 edge and forced UMBC to call a timeout.
The Retrievers settled and came back with the next two buckets and cut the Gator lead to two, 14-12.
UF’s ninth turnover of the half resulted in a three-pointer from Michelle Kurowski and UMBC had its first lead of the game, 15-14, with 10:47 on the clock.
That trey began a streak of six straight from deep, three from each team, as Lanita Bartley had two and Jaterra Bonds one during the shoot-out and helped Florida to a 23-21 edge with 7:19 remaining in the half.
Tope Obajolu halted the trend of long-range baskets and tied the game inside with 6:49 on the clock. Erin Brown followed with her third three-pointer of the game and UMBC took a 26-23 lead.
George put back her own miss on UF’s end of the floor, before Bonds dropped in a transition layup and Nidid Madu nailed a 17-footer to cap a 6-0 spurt and UMBC called its third timeout of the half to quell the Gators’ momentum.
It worked as Meghan Colabella hit a 10-foot jumper and the teams traded baskets for the next minute and the Retrievers slowed the game to a half-court display and closed the half on a 6-2 run and took a 32-31 lead entering the locker room, as Obajolu floated in a turnaround jumper off an in-bounds play with two seconds remaining for the final difference.
The Gators committed 11 turnovers during the first half that the Retrievers converted into 15 points. UMBC also converted 53.8 percent (14-26) of its shots during the opening 20 minutes, including 4-of-8 from long range.
UMBC’s Obajolu led all scorers with 12 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor, while Bonds had seven points to lead the balanced Gator scoring, as seven different players contributed at least one bucket.
Neither team attempted a free throw in the first half.
