Senior
Jennifer George scored 15 points with nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for
Florida to overcome a woeful second-half shooting effort in a 59-53 loss at
Michigan at the Crisler Center Saturday afternoon.
The
Gators (5-3), who dropped their second consecutive game, connected on just 21.6
percent (8-of-37) from the floor during the final 20 minutes and a season-low
30.3 percent (20-66) overall.
It
seemed the majority of U-M’s shot attempts came with 10 or fewer seconds on the
shot clock.
“That’s
typically how they play,” UF head coach Amanda Butler shared about Michigan’s
offensive attack. “They like a low possession ball game and we didn’t do a good
job defensively of maintaining our focus. I felt like we would put a lot of
pressure on them and then we would have a breakdown with 10 seconds left. It’s
got to be the other way around. Those last 10 seconds, your defense needs to
get tighter and sharper.”
After
Lily Svete nailed a three-pointer in the opening seconds of the second half, Michigan
(6-2) ripped off 10 consecutive points and sparked a 22-7 run that reversed a
35-27 Gator lead into a 49-42 Wolverine advantage over a 10-minute span.
The
Gators finally scored on consecutive possessions when Carlie Needles dropped in
a layup off a Christin Mercer steal and Jennifer George put in an offensive
rebound and cut Florida’s deficit to three points, 49-46, with 7:54 remaining.
U-M came right back with the next four points of the game and increased its
lead back to seven, 53-48, with 2:31 remaining in the game.
Svete
buried a three-pointer from the left corner and had UF within four points with
2:18 on the clock, but the Wolverines made good on their trips free throw line,
where they made 4-of-6 the rest of the way to close out the win.
U-M’s
final eight points of the game came from the charity stripe and its last field
goal came with 6:35 remaining. Florida wasn’t able to take advantage, as the
Gators hit a woeful 21.6 percent (8-37) in the second half and just 30.3
percent (20-66) during the game.
George,
who shot 7-of-13 from the floor, was joined in double-figure scoring by
freshman Sydney Moss, who added 11 points and five rebounds, as eight of nine
Gators who dressed for the game scored.
Kate
Thompson led all scorers with 21 points for Michigan, which hit 42.9 percent
(21-49) during the game, including 47.6 percent (10-21) in the deciding second
half.
“Even
though we held them in the 50s, I didn’t feel like we had great defensive energy,”
Butler said. “That effort trickled over into our offense and we were a little
too slow and a little too stagnant. We didn’t have as much fight as we needed
to on the low block. We have a lot to look at on film from this one and correct
before we play again.”
The
first half was tight, with five lead changes and six tied scores.
Michigan
held the early lead until the Gators went on a 6-0 spurt with two long jumpers from
Sydney Moss and a pair of free throws from Vicky McIntyre. Rachel Sheffer
halted the run with an inside bucket, but Jennifer George powered in a tough
shot in the paint and Moss added a three-pointer that extended the Gator march
to 11-2 and gave Florida a 20-13 lead with 7:27 remaining in the first half.
U-M
answered with a 9-1 scoring run of its own behind a trio of three-pointers and
regained a one-point advantage, 22-21, with 4:21 to go.
George
hit one free throw then powered up another field goal between defenders, before
Lewis canned a 14-footer that swung the lead back in Florida’s favor, 26-22, with
3:12 to play in the first frame.
Madison
Ristovski scored her first points of the game for the Wolverines with an inside
layup, but George answered with one for Florida. Moss then collected a steal
and dribbled the length of the court for the acrobatic layin and the Gators
held a 30-24 lead with 2:03 on the clock.
Brenae
Harris knocked down a three-point as the shot clock was expiring for U-M, but
Christin Mercer put back an offensive rebound with 14 seconds remaining and
ended the first half scoring with Florida carrying a 32-27 lead into the locker
room.
Six
different Gators scoring during the opening 20 minutes, with George and Moss
each recording nine points, while Lewis collected a team-best five rebounds for
Florida, which held a 21-16 rebounding edge over the Wolverines, who were led
in scoring by Kate Thompson’s 13 points.
The
teams were almost identical statistically, with both committing eight turnovers
and corralling five steals. Florida hit 12-of-29 shots (41.4 percent), while
U-M connected on 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from the floor.
