The University of Florida women’s basketball team used a strong defensive effort, holding Stetson to 28.3 percent (17-60) shooting from the field and forcing 17 turnovers, to pick up its first win of the 2011-12 campaign, 71-57, on Monday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gators were led by junior Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.), who tied a career-high with 21 points, on 9-of-16 shooting, and added nine rebounds.
“I was really proud with the way that we played down the stretch,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “I think that a lot of credit goes to our strength coach when you see the way we closed out the ball game in the last three minutes. I haven’t looked at that segment statistically, but there is no question that our team had the energy to create our own momentum and make big plays. A lot of that was instigated by our defense and really just locking up and trying to take away some of the things that they had been successful with earlier in the ball game.”
In addition to the 21 points from George, eight additional Gators scored, paced by Deana Allen (Houma, La.) and Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.), who added 11 and nine points respectively to help balance out the UF offensive attack. For the game, the Orange and Blue shot 46.7 percent (28-60) and outscored Stetson by 26 points in the paint (46-20) to help secure its 13th consecutive victory over the Hatters (1-1).
The Hatters got out to quick start to begin the game, jumping out to an early 12-7 advantage before the Gators responded rallying off the next nine points behind a balanced effort which saw five different UF players contribute in the run. After the teams exchanged baskets for the next few minutes, Stetson closed the half on a 12-5 run to take a 30-29 lead into the half. George and Jones led the Gator charge in the first half with seven points apiece, while Allen added five and corralled seven boards. There were 10 lead changes and four tied scores during the first 20 minutes of action.
The Gators (1-1) set the tone for the rest of the game early in the second half, when they opened the frame with an 8-0 run, using three made jumpers and lockdown defense to force the Hatters into a timeout less than two minutes into the half. From there, UF kept up the pressure not allowing Stetson to get within four points the rest of the way as it cruised to the double-digit victory.
In the second half, the Gators outscored Stetson 42-27 behind an impressive 58.1 percent (18-31) shooting output and 14 points and five rebounds from George.
