Jordan Jones nailed a 3-pointer late, Jennifer George posted her
seventh consecutive double-double and Florida defeated Ole Miss, 58-53,
at Tad Smith Coliseum on Thursday evening.
After Ole Miss cut
Florida's lead to four points late, Jones stepped up and nailed her
fourth 3-pointer of the game and gave the Gators a 58-51 lead with 3:13
remaining, as Florida held on to collect its first Southeastern
Conference road win of the season and improved to 11-4 overall and 1-1
in league action.
“We can look at a lot of different things, but
we just won,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “We won the possessions
that matter most and during the critical moments we came up with big
plays. This certainly wasn't the way we drew up this game, but that's
also what I mean by we just won. We did what we had to do. Especially on
the road and definitely in the SEC sometimes the best-laid plans don't
work and sometimes you have to go to plan ‘B' and even plan C.”George finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds while dishing
three assists, as her double-double streak of seven is tied for the
sixth longest streak in program history.
“Jennifer was a big part
of our win,” Butler shared. “It felt like she took a lot of contact and
handled that with a lot of poise and composure and made big plays,
sometimes on her second shot after they blocked her first one. She
really came around after being challenged.”
Jones also scored 18
points, converting 6-of-9 overall from the floor, including 4-of-7 from
beyond the arc and 2-of-3 from the free throw line.
“Whenever
Jordan shoots the ball well it gives all of our team confidence,” Butler
said. “To hold an SEC team to 55 points on its home court is
significant.”
The Gators shot 35.6 percent overall from the floor,
while Ole Miss (10-5, 0-2 SEC) hit 38.1 percent overall and just
2-of-17 from the three-point arc.
