The Dead River Company Classic in Orono, Maine, this weekend was the first time many Gators saw snow.
It was also the first time in their college careers that they lifted a championship trophy.
Florida (5-1) overcame yet another poor showing from the field to overtake Navy (4-2) in the closing minutes 52-43 and win the four-team tournament.
The Gators advanced to the final after defeating South Alabama 61-51 in the opening round Friday. With every game decided by 10 points or less thus far, it’s been a testy opening to the season for UF.
The championship against Navy wasn’t any different.
The lead changed hands 10 times in the opening half, and neither team jumped ahead by more than four points until the final minutes, when Florida went on a 13-2 run.
After the game, coach Amanda Butler acknowledged the team’s shortcomings (32 percent shooting, 15 turnovers, 17 fouls) but was thankful to be heading back to Gainesville with a tournament win.
“We did what we came here to do and that was win a championship,” Butler said. “There were a lot of moments when we could have hung our heads and were pretty deep in a rut but still found a way to get ourselves out.”
Center Azania Stewart was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after nearly posting a third consecutive double-double with nine points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Junior guard Jordan Jones also scored nine points on 3-of-10 shooting from 3-point distance and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Jones played all but two minutes in the championship.
The captain recorded a steal with just more than a minute to play that set up a Lanita Bartley layup, extending the Gators’ lead to nine and sealing the victory.
After struggling early with their inside shot, letting it fly from beyond the arc became the theme of the night. Florida drained four of its first five attempts from 3-point range but cooled to finish 9 of 25.
Returning from an injury that kept her out against UNF on Nov. 23, freshman Jaterra Bonds scored a team-high 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 2 of 5 from three, and helped bolster a UF defense that held Navy without a field goal in the last 9:02.
“We had to do a lot of different things, we tried a bunch of different personnel trying to defend them,” Butler said. “I didn’t know we held them to no field goals in the last nine minutes. That’s really something to be proud of.”
Florida held its opponents to an average of 47 points on 30.1 percent shooting and outrebounded them 102-75 for the tournament.
“One of the things that’s special about this team is that they are so eager to improve,” Butler said. “We’ll go back to Florida — thank goodness — and work on what is going to make us a better unit going forward.”
