UF overcame a
nine-point, second-half deficit as well as the loss of senior star
Jennifer George to injury to post a thrilling 77-72 victory over
visiting LSU before a season-high crowd of 1,575 Sunday at the O'Connell
Center.
The win,
Florida's 15th in a row at home and seventh straight Southeastern
Conference victory in the O-Dome dating back to last season, improved
head coach Amanda Butler's squad to 12-4, 1-1 while the Tigers slipped
to 10-5, 1-1.
“I think we beat a
very good team; that's the first thing I'd like to make real clear,”
said Butler, who picked up career win No. 150 as well as win No. 110 at
UF.
“LSU has a great
squad and is a postseason team. It was important for us to get them here
and take care of our business on our own court.”
The Gators came
out strong, with George scoring the first seven points of the game as UF
streaked to an early 10-2 lead, but the Tigers rallied behind the play
of senior guard Bianca Lutley from Pensacola and 6-foot-5 junior center
Theresa Plaisance to take a 44-36 halftime lead.
Junior point
guard Jaterra Bonds keyed an 11-4 UF run to open the second half, capped
by her 18-foot jumper to cut the Tigers' lead to one, 48-47, with 16:38
remaining, and from there the two teams traded punches.
LSU led by as
many as nine, 58-49, on a Lutley jumper with 11:46 left before George,
Bonds and redshirt sophomore Kayla Lewis responded by igniting a 13-4
Gator run that knotted the score at 62-all with 6:09 left.
A minute later,
George, who had already recorded her 26th career double-double (15
points, 11 rebounds), grabbed a loose ball and was fouled hard under her
own basket, falling awkwardly on her right arm. After some delay, she
was helped to the locker room and did not return to action with an
undisclosed shoulder injury.
Her teammates,
however, refused to be denied. Bonds scored seven of her game-high 19
points over the final four minutes, and 5-foot-6 redshirt freshman
Carlie Needles came up with her first career block on a potential
game-tying 3-pointer from LSU's Adrienne Webb with 12 seconds left and
UF up 73-70.
Needles not only
blocked the shot, but gained possession of the ball, was fouled and sank
both free throws to put the Gators up by five.
“Coach always
tells me out on the 3-point line to stay up on my feet, and I really
didn't even try to block it,” Needles said. “I was just trying to get
up, and not letting her get that three was a big stop for us.”
Webb hit a
baseline jumper with four ticks remaining to make it 75-72, but Bonds
was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and drained both free throws
with 3.4 seconds left to seal the deal.
“It feels great,
especially with all the adversity that we had,” said Bonds. “Even when
George left, we were still able to grind it out together and finish.”
Lewis had 10
points and six rebounds for UF, which shot 26-of-56 from the floor (46.4
percent), was 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe and
outrebounded the taller Tigers by a 39-32 margin.
LSU placed four players in double figures led by Plaisance (17 points) and Lutley (16).
“To Florida's
credit, I felt like they executed better down the stretch,” said LSU
head coach Nikki Caldwell. “Even when we got a lead, they didn't give
in. They stayed together, they created the hustle plays that they needed
and they were able to come away with the win.”
