With their backs against the wall having dropped three-straight games, the Gators came out swinging and connected with a 64-57 win against No. 20 Georgia.
“To say this is a tremendous win is just a gross understatement,” UF coach Amanda Butler said. “Everything we’ve been talking about, in terms of what makes us a good team, showed up tonight. And all of it, off of the heels of what has been the most challenging stretch of our season.”
Florida (14-13, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) didn’t score a field goal after a Steffi Sorensen three-pointer with 8:49 remaining that gave the Gators a 55-41 lead, but the team scored its last nine from the free-throw line to hold off Georgia (20-7, 7-7 SEC). The Gators didn't shoot as well as the Bulldogs from the charity stripe, but UF scored 22 points from the line compared to the seven Georgia scored.
Sorensen had a game-high and tied her career best with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 5-of-9 effort from beyond the arc.
“This game was really important because obviously the past couple of games haven’t really gone our way,” Sorensen said. “This is a definitely positive way for us to come out and show a lot of fans that Florida is for real.”
The Gators set themselves up with a crisp first half complete with limited turnovers and a better shooting performance than the Bulldogs.
After being silenced by a 7-0 Georgia run to open the game, UF answered with an 8-0 run, and the teams traded baskets before Florida closed out the half on a 14-4 run following the last media timeout before intermission.
The Bulldogs shot about 30 percentage points better in the second half and were led by Porsha Phillips with 14 points.
The majority of Georgia’s points came in the second half, when the team closed out the game on a 16-9 run.
“Unfortunately we’re a little used to shooting 29 percent this year, so we’ve had to find other ways to win,” Butler said. “The lack of consistency is a little bit frustrating, at the same time maybe it’s exciting. Maybe that’s the silver lining in the cloud.”
