Freshman
Sydney Moss (Union, Ky.) scored a game-high 27 points, junior Jaterra
Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) added 20 including the last four points from the
free throw line with 23.4 seconds remaining and Florida marched into the
semifinals of the WNIT after its 85-80 win at James Madison in front of a
raucous 2,182 fans at the JMU Convocation Center on Saturday evening.
The
Gators held a 79-77 lead with 1:29 remaining before Tarik Hislop drilled her
third three-pointer of the game for her 26th and final point and gave the Dukes
the lead with 65 seconds left.
Freshman
January Miller (Orlando, Fla.) then drove hard into the paint, put up a
tough shot that dropped in and was fouled. She missed the charity toss, but the
Gators held the 81-80 lead with 52.7 seconds remaining.
The
Dukes (25-11) collected the rebound and Jazmon Gwathmey collected an offensive
rebound off of Hislop’s miss at the other end and was fouled putting up a shot
with 27.3 seconds left. Fortunately for the Gators, she missed both and Moss
corralled the second miss and passed the ball to Bonds, who was fouled with
23.4 seconds left.
Bonds,
who on her previous trip to the free throw line set a new Gator season record
with 136 makes, calmly converted both ends of the one-and-one and gave Florida
an 83-80 lead.
As
expected, JMU put the ball in Hislop’s hands, but her long-range shot was off
the mark and the ball went out of bounds with the possession to Florida.
Bonds
was fouled immediately after catching the in-bound pass and stepped to the line
where she clinched the victory after making both attempts with 4.1 seconds
remaining.
In
a game that featured 16 lead changes and 10 tied scores, the Gators (22-14)
overcame their lone senior Jennifer George (Fresno, Calif.) fouling out
with 8:25 remaining and sophomore Kayla Lewis (Decatur, Ga.) leaving the
game with an injury with 15:59 to play and had just six players to finish the
contest.
“Our
team is playing with a tremendous amount of determination and heart,” UF head
coach Amanda Butler said. “I’m just so proud of their toughness because
with Kayla sitting on the bench with her ankle swelling up and Jennifer having
to play with four fouls before fouling out with eight minutes left and us just
having six players and trying to figure out who to play where. I just think it
was a tremendous display of toughness and will and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Moss,
who scored in double-figures in her seventh consecutive game, finished
one-point shy of her career-best scoring effort that she set at FIU in the WNIT
first round. The Gator rookie also collected a team-high nine rebounds, as
Florida held the 43-40 rebounding edge.
Bonds
dished a team-best five assists, while sinking 8-of-9 free throws, all in the
second half.
Freshman
Christin Mercer (Douglasville, Ga.) scored 11 points with six rebounds
and two steals, while Carlie Needles (Highlands Ranch, Col.) added eight
points, including a three-pointer with 2:32 remaining that gave Florida a 76-75
lead.
All
eight Gators who suited up for the game scored, the 15th time this season that
has occurred and the third time during the team’s four-game WNIT run.
“It’s
a very typical team win for us, points and minutes distributed,” Butler said. “January
gets the foul driving to the rim and that was huge. We had some really, really
big defensive stops with some huge rebounds and exhausted kids on the floor
down the stretch.”
Florida
next meets the winner of the game between Auburn (19-14) and Drexel (25-10) in
the national semifinals on either April 3 or 4 on a campus site to be
determined. Auburn hosts the Dragons on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
This
is the second time in program history the Gators have reached the semifinals of
a national postseason tournament, not including the 1985 team’s run to the
final of the NWIT that was a 16-team event. Florida reached the Elite 8 of the
1997 NCAA Tournament where the Gators lost to Old Dominion, 53-51, and won four
games to advance to the 2000 WNIT championship game and lost to host Wisconsin,
75-74.
“All
of our players chose to come to Florida for a reason and they want to make
history,” Butler shared.
Florida
scored the first two points of the second half from two different trips to the
free throw line, before JMU scored the next six points and took the 44-43 lead.
The
Gators answered with the next seven points, two from Moss and five from Bonds,
as the lead swung back in Florida’s favor.
JMU
was able to trim UF’s lead to one point during when George picked up her fourth
foul with 14:06 remaining in the second half and left the game with the Gators
holding a 50-47 lead. She returned the game at the 12:58 mark.
After
the Dukes run, Mercer took a feed from Bonds and finished the bucket to spark a
8-2 run and the Gators held a 60-53 lead with 11:07 to play.
The
Dukes refused to fold and ripped off a 6-0 spurt, before the Gators answered
with four point from Moss and two from Bonds, as the Gators led 66-59 with 9:27
remaining.
With
Florida already having collected seven fouls, Precious Hall went to the line
and converted both ends of a one-and-one and ignited a 8-0 run that had the
crowd in a frenzy, as the home team took the 67-66 lead with 7:26 remaining,
during which George was whistled for her fifth personal and watched the final
8:25 of the game from the bench.
Moss
stopped the run with a tough bucket, but Hislop answered the lead swung back
and fourth.
Bonds
went to the free throw line with 6:33 remaining, where she made one and
converted her 136th free throw of the year, passing the Gator’s season record
held by Sha Brooks during the 2008-09 season.
Moss
again followed with a bucket and gave Florida a 71-60 lead with 5:59 on the
clock.
JMU
came right back with the next four points in 59 seconds and took a 73-71 lead.
Florida
was then whistled for a shot clock violation, but JMU couldn’t take advantage,
as Hislop missed a shot and Moss was there for the rebound. Bonds then pulled
up for a short shot in the paint with 3:30 left and the game was tied for the
10th time.
Hislop,
however, wasn’t finished and canned another fade-away jumper and JMU led 75-73
with 3:13 on the clock.
Both
teams missed shots and committed turnovers during the next minute before
Needles drilled a three-pointer with 1:29 remaining and Florida regained the
lead, 79-77.
Hislop
came right back and anwered with a three-pointer 23 seconds later and the Dukes
held the 80-79 edge with 66 seconds left.
That’s
when Miller drove the lane, made the shot and was fouled, setting the stage for
the final minute of play as Florida scored the last six points for the win.
The
teams matched each other’s scores for nearly the entire first half that
featured six tied scores and four lead changes.
The
period started with an offensive barrage, as the Gators were hitting 50 percent
(8-16) from the floor and the Dukes 63.6 percent (7-11) through the opening
6:49 of the game and the contest was tied a 18 with 13:11 to play.
After
James Madison held a 16-12 lead with 14:26 remaining, Florida used an 18-9 run
to take a 30-25 edge, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Lily Svete
(Granger, Ind.). The Dukes called a timeout and successfully halted the run, as
Kirby Burkholder converted one of her two three-pointers shortly after the 30-second
break.
They
were huge. Lily had back-to-back three-pointers in the first half, as well, and
when you have a possession ballgame and have a shooter who hits back-to-back
threes it causes a coach to call a timeout and then they don’t have one at the
end of the game. Those become huge plays, even when they happen 30 minutes
earlier.
Moss answered with a pair
of free throws, but Gwathmey followed with another from deep for the hosts, who
cut the Gator lead to one.
Christin
Mercer
(Douglasville, Ga.) then put back an offensive rebound before Hislop answered
with one for the Dukes.
Moss
struck again with the next four points and extended Florida’s lead to five,
38-33, with 2:20 on the clock.
Precious
Hall then nailed JMU’s sixth trey of the half, before Miller followed
with one for the Gators with 51 seconds remaining.
Kanita
Shepherd ended the first half scoring with a bucket in the paint for JMU, as Florida
took a 41-38 lead into the locker room.
The
Gators shot 43.2 percent during the opening half, including 6-of-10 from the
three-point arc, and held the 23-19 rebounding edge.
The
Dukes hit 44.1 percent (15-34) from the floor, including 6-of-14 from deep.
Moss
led all scorers with 14 points during the first half, while collecting five
rebounds.
