The Gators finally found their poison: playing a hot-shooting team on the road.
Preseason Southeastern Conference favorite Vanderbilt (19-6, 8-2 SEC) jumped out on UF early on Thursday night, and the Gators (22-3, 8-2 SEC) could never recover, falling 84-68 in Nashville.
It was the No. 24 Commodores setting the tone in the first four minutes, a theme that usually belongs to the Gators.
Vanderbilt began the game on a 12-0 run just 3 1/2 minutes after the tip and sank 6 of 7 3-pointers in the first 8:10, extending its lead to 24-7.
"They came right out and set the tone, set us back on our heels, and they set us so far back on our heels we never could get back up out of that hole," UF coach Amanda Butler said. "We just got an old fashion butt-whooping tonight."
UF trailed by as many as 17 before the break, and it spent the rest of the half scrapping and clawing its way back into the game.
The Gators went into the locker room down just 37-29, thanks to a rare 5 points from Azania Stewart, who finished with a career-high 16, and a combined three 3-pointers from Steffi Sorensen and Susan Yenser.
But UF could never find a rhythm in the second half, having to deal with foul trouble from its best players. Marshae Dotson had two fouls in the first 5:30 of the game, and Sha Brooks picked up her fourth foul with 4:37 left.
Vanderbilt shot lights-out from long range in the second half as well and extended its lead to as much as 27.
The Commodores found themselves with more wide-open looks from distance than contested shots, and most of the time the ball didn't even touch the rim as it went through the net.
Guard Merideth Marsh and forward Christina Wirth made all of Vanderbilt's 13 threes.
The Commodores, who were shooting 62 percent from beyond the arc at one point, finished 13 of 23 from long range.
"The open looks that we continued to give them, I think, primarily was because of a lack of communication," Butler said. "They just really took it to us, and we did very little to try and slow that down."
UF shot itself in the foot with 23 turnovers, while Vanderbilt scored 26 points off those turnovers. Also not helping their own cause, the Gators went just 9 of 20 from the free-throw line.
"We didn't play with very much composure," Butler said. "We just let down on every front."
"They just out-hustled us. They beat us to balls. They were more physical than us. They out-toughed us. The list goes on and on."
The road doesn't get much easier for the Gators, who now trail Auburn in the SEC standings by a game following the Tigers' win over Kentucky on Thursday.
UF will travel to Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday at 1 p.m. to take on LSU (12-9, 5-4 SEC).
The Tigers, who have advanced to the Final Four for five straight years, field the best defense in the conference and will be coming off a bye week to get ready for the Gators.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
