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ATHENS, Ga -- Just three days removed from a lopsided loss at home
against Tennessee, the Florida women’s basketball team suffered
another devastating defeat Sunday.
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the road against the Georgia Bulldogs, the Gators held a commanding
lead for much of game, but a late second half collapse saw them
lose another Southeastern Conference game, 70-64.
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Florida (12-7, 2-3 SEC) led by as many as 16 in the second half,
but the Bulldogs (14-3, 4-0 SEC), fresh off back-to-back victories
against ranked SEC opponents, rallied in the final nine minutes
with a 13-0 run that gave them their first lead since the opening
bucket.
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think for 37 minutes we won the battle of the paint -- crushed them
on the boards,” head coach Amanda Butler said. “We just learned a
hard lesson tonight about taking care of the ball on someone else’s
home court.”
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Despite turning the ball over 12 times, the Gators held a 13-point
lead at halftime. Florida added 11 more in the second half, but
instead of dead-ball traveling violations that didn’t cost the
Gators immediate points, the mistakes in the latter period of the
game came in transition and allowed Georgia to erase the large
deficit.
“The turnovers we had in the second half were in crucial, crucial
moments,” Butler said. “You’ve got to handle the things you can
control, when you can control them, and we didn’t take care of the
ball in the last six minutes.”
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didn’t help that the Bulldogs seemed incapable of missing during
the same span. Georgia shot 70 percent in the final six minutes
including 4-4 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Jasmine James,
Georgia’s leading scorer, was neutralized in the first half,
racking up just 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting. But the talented
underclassman dropped three treys with the game on the line and
finished with a game-high 18 points.
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“They have some great players and leaders on the team that know how
to get things going in order to win,” Butler said.
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The Bulldogs, undefeated in the SEC, were able to win while getting
outrebounded 47-31 and outshot 44.8 percent to 39.7.
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Getting a rare start, guard Deana Allen led the way for the Gators
with a double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds), but also turned the
ball over a team-high six times.
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Allen, who said she felt Florida still had control when Georgia
roared back, was visibly somber after the game.
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felt like me as an individual, I lost composure at certain moments
of the game,” Allen said. “I think we folded as a team in the last
ten minutes of the game. It’s all about staying together when
you’re on another team’s home court.”
