With
Florida’s leading scorer and rebounder Jennifer George (Fresno, Calif.)
unable to play because of injury, No. 19/18 South Carolina took advantage on
the boards and captured a 52-44 decision over the Gators on Sunday at the
O’Connell Center.
Appearing
on the floor for the first time since the heartbreaking 78-75 overtime loss to ninth-ranked
Tennessee last Sunday, the Gators (13-6, 2-3 SEC) were flat on offense from the
start, hitting just one of their first 14 shots from the floor, as the
Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2 SEC) jumped out to an early eight-point lead and were
ahead by as many as 11 in the first half, maintaining a lead for the entire
game.
Florida
shot a season-low 29.8 percent (17-57) from the floor during the game, while
South Carolina hit a mere 23.4 percent (15-64), the lowest by a Gator opponent
this season, but overcame its inept shooting performance with a commanding
59-41 rebounding advantage that included 26 on the offensive end.
“We
gave up 26 offensive rebounds and so I think there’s a lack of toughness,” UF
head coach Amanda Butler said. “And in some of the times it was poor
decision making; you turn the ball over a ton and I think offensively our
problems were very similar to our rebounding problems; we just weren’t physical
enough. We didn’t finish in the paint. Anything less than winning means
clearly, we failed in the toughness and decision making.”
The
rebounding margin was the worst deficit of the year for the Gators, who had entered
the game having out-rebounded its last 13 opponents and had lost the rebounding
battle just three times.
After
Vicky McIntyre (Omaha, Neb.) connected on an eight-foot jumper at the
17:15 mark of the first half, the Gators went cold from the floor, missing 10
consecutive attempts over the next 6:32, hitting a woeful 1-of-14 as South
Carolina went on an 8-0 run.
Jaterra
Bonds
(Gainesville, Fla.), who finished with a game-high 16 points, ended the drought
with a tough layup at 10:33 remaining and pulled Florida to within six points,
12-6.
“Jaterra
fought really hard and was offensively in particular the one bright spot for us
and had some moments where she was kind of our unstoppable offensive player,” Amanda
Butler said.
The
Gators then missed their next five shots, as the Gamecocks took a 17-6 lead
with 8:43 remaining.
The
teams traded scores for the rest of the half and South Carolina carried a 24-17
halftime advantage, as UF hit just 23.1 percent (6-26) during those first 20
minutes and South Carolina just 24.2 percent (8-33), but enjoyed its 29-18
rebounding edge, scoring six second-chance points while Florida was unable to
capitalize on any.
“Obviously
very disappointed with the way we played, in particularly in the first half,”
Butler said. “I thought we were just not ourselves. You don’t have time or room
for that this time of year. (I’m) really disappointed with our rebounding
performance. That’s something we worked hard on during this week and we didn’t
carry it over into the game and there’s really no excuse for that. I got to
give South Carolina a lot of credit. They played very hard, they’re very tough
and they made it their number one agenda to outrebound us and they did that and
then some.”
The
Gators came out with energy in the second half, cutting their deficit to three
twice from a layup by Bonds and triple from Lily Svete (Granger,
Ind.).
Bonds
tied the game at 35-all with 12:14 remaining, but Khadijah Session came right
back with her third three-pointer of the game and gave SC the 38-35 lead with
11:51 left in the game.
Florida
attempted and missed its only shot on its next three offensive possessions, as
South Carolina capitalized with inside buckets from Ashley Brunner and Aleighsa
Welch along with one free throw from Welch and the Gamecock’s lead was back to
eight, 43-35, with 10:42 remaining.
The
Gators had a chance to stop the run, but Needles couldn’t connect from the free
throw line. UF maintained possession but again missed its shot and USC came
away with the rebound and Bruner hit the fastbreak layup that gave the visitors
a 45-35 lead with 9:39 on the clock.
Florida
called a timeout after SC’s 2:10 scoring outburst and McIntyre was able to halt
the march with a layup inside with 9:23 remaining.
Sydney
Moss
(Union, Ky.), who finished with six points and tied for a team-high eight
rebounds, then converted one-of-two from the line and Florida cut its deficit
to seven points, 45-38.
USC
took its turn from the free throw line, where it missed both, but collected the
offensive board, however, was unable to convert and gave the Gators another chance
to inch closer.
Both
teams missed shots on their next two ensuing possessions and Florida was unable
to make up any ground.
USC
was called for offensive foul with 48.8 seconds remaining while holding a 45-42
lead.
Florida
took possession but January Miller’s three-pointer was off the mark and
SC got the rebound, where Bruner was fouled on a layup attempt. She made the
first and missed the second, but a lane violation game gave third try, where
she missed it again with 31.4 seconds left, however, Welch collected the loose
ball and SC called a timeout with 29.7 second on the clock and a 46-42 lead.
The
Gators were forced to foul quickly and tapped Sessions, who hit the first and
missed the second. Lewis corralled the miss and Moss quickly answered with a
layup for the Gators with 19.3 ticks left, as Florida called an immediate
timeout, down 47-44.
Mitchell
then went to the line and hit both free throws and the Gators missed their
ensuing shot attempt.
Bruner
was then fouled and missed the first but made the second to give USC a 50-44
lead with seven seconds remaining and Session’s capped the game’s scoring with
two more from the line for the Gamecocks, who didn’t convert a field goal in
the final 9:39 of the game.
