The University of Florida women’s basketball team used a balanced offensive attack, which saw nine different players score, and a lockdown defensive performance to cruise to a 72-45 victory against Belmont Tuesday evening at the O’Connell Center.
“It was a great win for us, a great opportunity to try and spread our minutes around a little bit. It gave us an opportunity to work on things we don’t always get to do during games,” Gator head coach Amanda Butler said. “To have the type of balance and give everyone the opportunity at such quality minutes in a game situation is really valuable for our team going forward.”
Florida (6-1) took advantage of 29 Belmont (1-6) turnovers by turning them into 44 points. The Gators also used their size to their advantage as they outscored the Bruins 34-16 in the paint to help them to the 27 point victory.
For the contest, the Gators (6-1) were led offensively by a trio of players who topped the 10-point mark led by Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.), who scored 15 points and shared team-high honors with six rebounds. Brittany Shine (Sacramento, Calif.) put up a season-high 13 points, while Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) tallied 12 points, three assists and three steals in 21 minutes of play.
Using a balanced attack and stifling defense, the Gators jumped out to an early 22-12 lead 10 minutes into the contest. UF then went on a surge, closing the half on a 24-7 run to take a 46-19 lead into the locker room and never looked back en route to its sixth consecutive win.
“We have such an advantage by having two people that can pressure the ball so effectively in Lanita Bartley and Jaterra Bonds,” Butler said. “We ask them to set the tone with their defense and ball pressure, and you saw that tonight. I thought they did a great job.”
For the first half, the Gators shot an impressive 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the floor and saw eight players record a point, led by 12 from Bartley and 11 from George. The Florida defense was also impressive in the first as the Orange and Blue held Belmont to 33.3 percent (seven-of-21) shooting and forced 21 Bruin turnovers.
The Gators didn’t let up in the second half extending their lead to as many as 37 points en route to the 72-45 victory. UF’s second half was keyed by Shine, who scored all of her season-high 13 points after the intermission. The Orange and Blue also got a solid second half contribution from Andrea Vilaró Aragonés (Barcelona, Spain), who scored the first six points of her Gator career on a pair of threes.
