Junior
Jaterra Bonds scored a season-high 21 points, freshman January Miller
scored career-best 17 points and senior Jennifer George posted her 25th
career double-double but Florida fell just short at sixth-ranked and preseason
Southeastern Conference favorite Kentucky, 76-69, on Thursday in the league
opener for both teams.
The
Gators (11-4, 0-1 SEC) was within two points, 60-58, with 6:03 remaining but
went cold from the floor, missing their next six shots and the Wildcats (13-1,
1-0 SEC) took advantage by scoring six straight points and led 66-58 with 3:18
remaining.
Kayla
Lewis
ended the run with an inside jumper, but the teams traded scores and Florida’s
deficit alternated between six and eight points for the next couple of minutes
and couldn’t string back-to-back scoring opportunities until Bonds converted
two free throws and George hit an inside bucket with 21 seconds remaining that
brought the Gators within four, 72-68.
UK
made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure their 30th
consecutive win in Memorial Coliseum, as well as its program-record 12th
straight overall.
“I
thought our players fought really, really hard and in the second half did a
great job of taking care of the basketball,” UF head coach Amanda Butler
said. “We won the rebounding battle and got ourselves to the free throw line
like we wanted to and had some really good individual performances.
“January
Miller had a career-high, Jaterra was money from the free throw line so there
were a lot of positives for us,” Butler continued. “You have to give Kentucky a
lot of credit. This building is really hard to win in and I thought we put up a
great fight. There are a lot of positives for us to move forward into our next
battle.”
Bonds
tied a program-record by hitting 11-of-11 free throws en route to her game-high
offensive output, while Miller hit 5-of-7 from the floor, including 2-of-3
three-pointers with 5-of-6 from the line. George recorded 14 points, a
game-high 11 rebounds with a game-high three steals for the Gators, who
committed just three turnovers in the second half after 16 in the opening 20
minutes of the game. Florida held a 40-36 rebounding edge in the game.
UK
entered the game leading the nation in turnover margin at +12.9, having forced
at least 21 turnovers in every game this year while averaging 15.8 per game.
The Wildcats committed 16 miscues overall, but just four in the second half.
“I
don’t want this to sound like I’m not giving Kentucky credit because they are a
great team. I really felt like in the beginning of the game we had a lot of
nerves,” Butler said. “We made some rushed decisions that we did a better job
of being in control of in the second half. We talked about composure all week
long and got to that point but we had to fight to get there.”
A’dia
Mathies, last year’s SEC Player of the Year and the preseason favorite this
season, scored 20 points for Kentucky to lead four Wildcats in double-figure
scoring. Junior transfer DeNesha Stallworth posted 17 points and 10 rebounds
for UK, which shot 43.5 percent overall and hit 9-of-23 three-pointers.
Kentucky
scored the last five points of the first half and carried that momentum into
the second where they scored the first seven points and took a 46-35 lead.
Florida
calmly answered with the next six points that started a 12-2 run and the Gators
were within one point, 48-47, with 13:29 remaining.
Bria
Goss, last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year, halted the run with a jumper and
Jennifer O’Neill followed with a pair of three-pointers that had the Wildcats lead
back to nine with 9:55 on the clock.
Vicky
McIntyre hit two more free throws for Florida before O’Neill hit a deep jumper
and again UK’s lead was at nine points, 58-49, with 9:21 remaining.
January
Miller drove hard to the hoop and was fouled and converted two free throws
before nailing her second three-pointer to spark a 6-0 spurt that had Florida
within two, 58-56, with 6:54 remaining.
DeNesha
Stallworth hit a jumper, but Jennifer George answered with a tough inside shot
and Florid was again within two points, 60-58, with 6:03 on the clock.
Florida
went cold from the floor, missing its next six shots, as UK scored six straight
points and led 66-58 with 3:18 remaining.
Kayla
Lewis ended the run with an inside jumper, but the teams traded scores and
Florida’s deficit alternated between six and eight points for the next couple
of minutes.
To
the disappointment of a huge hometown crowd that made the trip from nearby
Union, Ky., freshman Sydney Moss, UF’s second-leading scorer this year, was
whistled for her fourth personal foul with 10:21 remaining and struggled all
night in what was her toughest collegiate showing to date.
The
Gators committed a turnover on their first two possessions and Kentucky took
advantage both times with buckets.
Florida
managed a shot on its next two offensive trips down the court, but missed and
the Wildcats collected the rebound.
After
two more UK points from the free throw line, Jaterra Bonds finally got the
Gators on the scoreboard with an eight-foot jumper from the side 2:50 into the
game.
The
Wildcats came back with a three-pointer and stretched their early lead to seven
points, but Florida regrouped with the next four, as Christin Mercer connected
on a tough inside jumper and Bonds converted a pair of free throws and brought
the Gators within three.
Kentucky
scored the next four points and held again held a seven-point spread and the
teams traded scores for the next two minutes before UK’s A’dia Mathies, the
2012 SEC Player of the Year, stepped with a three-pointer and an inside bucket
and gave the Wildcats an 11-point lead, 23-12, with 11:30 remaining in the
first half and Florida called a timeout.
The
Gators refused to fold and rallied with a 9-0 run, as January Miller sparked
the march with a pair of run-out layups in a 28-second span. Bonds then
converted her seventh three-point play of the year and followed that with
mid-range jumper and Florida was within two, 23-21, with 7:30 to play.
DeNesha
Stallworth halted the run with a three-pointer from the top of the arc and hit
a bucket inside before Samarie Walked sank two free throws to cap a 7-0 run and
had UK back out in front, 30-21.
Jennifer
George got on the board with her first bucket at the 5:48 mark to stop the spurt,
as Mathies hit another jumper for the nine-point lead with 5:32 on the clock.
Miller
struck for the Gators with a six-footer from the side and Kayla Lewis put in an
offensive rebound and the Gators were within five. After a Mathies bucket,
Vicky McIntyre nailed two free throws, as did George and Bonds and had Florida
within one point, 34-32, with 2:53 remaining in the first.
Both
teams missed shots on their respective next offensive possessions, before
George put back an offensive rebound and gave Florida its first lead of the
game, 35-34, with 1:37.
Kentucky
came right back 27 seconds later with a jumper from Bria Goss, forced Florida’s
16th turnover of the period and capitalized when Kastine Evens drilled a
three-pointer with 31 seconds remaining to close the first-half scoring and the
Wildcats leading 39-35.
The
Gators hit 43.3 percent (13-30) from the floor, while UK nailed 48.3 percent of
its shots. Bonds and Mathies led their respective teams with 13 points each
during the first 20 minutes of action.
