After Thursday’s loss to DePaul in the semifinals of the Preseason Women’s NIT, coach Amanda Butler was furious with a referee’s call on the game’s deciding play.
A last-second tip-in by freshman guard Kayla Lewis was waved off by referees and DePaul took the victory 74-73 and will advance to play Purdue in the final.
“I’m very, very proud of my team and how they responded to adversity there at the end. They won the game. Plain and simple,” Butler said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more than what they did.”
After leading the entire first half, UF allowed its opponent back into the game with sloppy mistakes down the stretch. Turnovers (24) were once again a problem for the Gators, including a crucial shot clock violation with less than a minute to play that gave possession back to the Blue Demons.
DePaul then took the ball down the floor but missed on consecutive three-point looks only to come down with both rebounds. With the shot clock off, DePaul’s Keisha Hampton received a pass inside and was fouled by center Azania Stewart. She made the front end of a 1-and-1 to put DePaul up by one with six seconds left and extend her game-high point total to 19.
Lanita Bartley took the ball off the inbound and dribbled coast-to-coast but was fouled near the top of the key with a tenth of a second on the clock, leading to the controversial final play.
“We’re learning every day. And sometimes we’re learning that we’ve got to not put ourselves in position [to lose] in the last six seconds,” Butler said. “I think we’ll have a lot to learn when we look at the film.”
The Gators took ill-advised shots and struggled to get back on defense, allowing DePaul a number of easy baskets in transition.
Entering the game Butler had worries about taking her inexperienced team on the road, and the Gators showed their youth against a stingy DePaul team that ran the floor and beat UF at its own game.
It was a fast-paced, back-and-forth contest that favored the hot-handed shooters. DePaul had three players score more than 15 points and the Gators had four in double digits.
Junior Jordan Jones shot 4 of 9 from three-point range and finished with a team-high 14 points. Center Azania Stewart added 10 points and 9 rebounds, one board shy of consecutive double-double performances. Kayla Lewis and Lanita Bartley both chipped in 10 points, but Bartley also added a costly 6 turnovers.
