Four
Gators scored in double-figures and another collected 11 rebounds and Florida
defeated Auburn, 65-57, on the road for the first time since Feb. 29, 2004.
The
Gators (15-9, 4-6 SEC) trailed by nine points early in the game, but regrouped
to tie it by halftime and then took control of the second half, outscoring the
Tigers (13-11, 2-9 SEC), 39-31 in the final 20 minutes for its second
Southeastern Conference road victory of the season.
“It
was a tremendous second-half,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “We
played about 30 minutes of really good basketball. We had a slow start again,
but I’m really proud of our team for not letting that set the tone for the
whole game. When we finally shook that off and decided how good Auburn was and
experienced how we needed to play to beat them, I thought we made great changes
in intensity.”
Freshman
Christin Mercer (Douglasville, Ga.) led the Gators with 12 points on
6-of-9 shooting, while pulling down nine rebounds and just missing her second
consecutive double-double.
Jennifer
George
(Fresno, Calif.) added 11 points and seven rebounds with two blocks and a pair
of steals, while Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) scored all of her 11 points
in the second half and all from the free throw line where she connected on 11
of 14 attempts.
Lily
Svete
(Granger, Ind.) nailed three three-pointers en route to 11 points, with all
three of her treys coming in the final 7:16 of the game and each seeming to
come after Auburn tied to gain some momentum.
Freshman
Sydney Moss (Union, Ky.) collected a career and game-high 11 rebounds,
while scoring nine points with a team-best six assists, and helped Florida to
the 48-35 rebounding win.
“We
had amazing play from different people at different times in the ballgame,”
Butler praised. “In the first half, January Miller gave us a great spark and
really brought us alive with her two threes. I can’t say enough about the way
that Lily (Svete) played today. Her threes in the second half were huge. What’s
not as obvious is how Lily played on defense. She played a great defensive
game. We had a very, very specific defensive game plan and Lily followed it to
a ‘T.’ I’m really, really proud of the way she played.”
Similar
to the first half, Mercer scored the first points of the period and Auburn
countered with the next four, but this time the Gators didn’t allow the Tigers
to march off 11 straight points.
George
used her upperbody strength to convert a layup as she was falling down after
being fouled and then converted the ensuing free throw that gave UF a 31-30
lead.
Bonds
followed with two more points from the charity stripe for the Gators, who then
held their largest lead of three points with 17:07 remaining.
The
teams traded buckets for the next minute and a half before Blanche Alverson,
who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, knocked down three free throws
and tied the game at 35-all.
Bonds
connected on two from the line for Florida before Tyrese Tanner, who ended with
a game-high 17 points, hit a bucket and the game was tied for the sixth and
final time, as Moss hit a bucket and sparked a 10-1 run and the Gator’s lead
grew to nine points, 47-38, with 8:07 remaining.
Moss
scored two more buckets, both off offensive rebounds, and Kayla Lewis added
four more points, including the final two on a fastbreak layup.
Alverson
halted UF’s run of eight straight points with a deep three-pointer, but Moss
hit one free throw. She missed the second and Lewis corralled the rebound and
found Svete open on the wing where she nailed her first three-pointer.
Auburn
hit two more free throws, before Svete struck again from deep and Florida led
54-43 with 6:26 remaining.
The
teams traded scores over the next two minutes, before Svete canned her third
three-pointer that gave Florida a 59-47 lead with 3:37 on the clock. That would
be the Gator’s final field goal of the contest, as the team was able to convert
6-of-10 the rest of the way to earn the big road victory.
Florida
converted just one of its first nine shot attempts and committed seven
turnovers that helped Auburn sprint out to an 11-2 lead during the first eight
minutes and 12 seconds of the game.
Christin
Mercer scored the game’s first points, before the Tigers ripped off the next
11, with six points coming from Tyrese Tanner. Moss dished the assists on that
first field goal, her 75th assist of the season.
January
Miller
finally halted UF’s cold streak and Auburn’s run with a three-pointer from the
right side. Tanner quickly answered with a long jumper for the Tigers, but Mercer
stuck again inside and Miller drained another trey that brought the Gators
within three points, 13-10, with 9:33 to go in the first half.
The
teams traded field goals for the next two minutes, as Florida remained within
one point of the Tigers as the Gators hit 6-of-8 following their game-opening
tough shooting stretch.
After
Svete knocked down two free throws, her first attempts since Dec. 21 against
Central Michigan, that brought Florida with one with 5:49 remaining, George hit
a tough turnaround in the paint and gave the Gators a 20-19 lead.
Hasina
Muhammad struck back 14 seconds later and swung the lead back in Auburn’s
favor, as she tacked on two more free throws for a three-point lead with 3:13
to go.
Mercer
again dropped another short shot, but Blanche Alverson connected on three free
throws after being fouled on a long-range attempt and Auburn’s lead was back at
four, 26-22, with 1:46 remaining.
Mercer
scored her 10th point of the half on another field goal, before Moss connected
on a bucket inside with 46 seconds on the clock that tied the game at 26.
Those
were the final points of the period, as Florida found a way to erase an early
nine-point deficit and ended the frame with a 36.7 percent (11-30) shooting
mark and had just 10 turnovers after committed seven in the first eight-plus
minutes of the game.
