The Gators knew it was coming, but still, they couldn’t stop it.
After containing the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year for much of the game, senior forward Victoria Dunlap provided the nail in the coffin in the final seconds and No. 19 Kentucky outlasted Florida 59-58 on Thursday in the O’Connell Center.
UF (12-8, 2-4 SEC) led by 10 with 5:29 remaining but allowed its opponent to overcome a double-digit deficit for the second consecutive game with its poor ball handling down the stretch.
“We’re just not finishing games out with the composure we should,” coach Amanda Butler said. “I don’t accept the excuse that we’re young or inexperienced. We’re not anymore.”
Immediately after Florida extended its game-high lead to 10 points, Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) rattled off a 13-1 run and held a 57-55 lead with 44 seconds left to play.
But the Gators continued to fight, and junior Deana Allen drilled a three-pointer with a hand in her face to give the lead back to Florida with just 25 seconds remaining.
After a Kentucky timeout and inbounds play, the ball quickly made its way into Dunlap’s hands.
She drove the lane, an area where she experienced little success all evening, and drew a foul on center Azania Stewart.
“It was just a small-tap foul, but I shouldn’t have even put her in that position,” Stewart said. “I knew she was going to hit those (free throws).”
Both free shots fell with ease, and Kentucky escaped with the narrow one-point victory.
“I think it’s a lack of discipline,” Stewart said of the Gators’ recent struggles at the end of the games.
Against Georgia on Sunday, Florida allowed the Bulldogs to erase a 16-point second-half lead in an eventual UGA victory.
“We traded baskets with them and were able to pull away by 10 points, but back-to-back losses like this is terrible,” Stewart said, struggling to get the words out while fighting back tears.
“We practice very hard, we work very hard, and I encourage the team to play with a lot of emotion,” Butler said.
The loss is the third in a row, and fourth in the last five games, for Florida. This one was especially difficult considering the Gators had the game in hand.
Dunlap had trouble in the paint against aggressive double teams, but she finished with a respectable 12 points and eight rebounds.
Half of her points came in the final five minutes during Kentucky’s surge, and Butler, who saw a similar defeat just days ago, said the team should have been prepared.
The team game planned to stop Dunlap, Butler said, and was not surprised when Kentucky went to her with the game on the line.
“She did exactly what we expected her to do,” Butler said. “You’ve got to handle your business before it gets down to that last possession and there’s a judgment call of whether there’s a foul or not a foul. You can’t put yourself in that position, and that’s what we did.”
The loss spoiled a second consecutive standout game for Allen. After notching her first-career double-double in the loss at Georgia, Allen was the catalyst for the Gators again Thursday.
She led Florida with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor in only 22 minutes. She had limited playing time after picking up her third foul with 10 minutes left.
Afterward, Allen, who said she blamed herself for the loss at Georgia, again pointed at things she could have done better to prevent defeat.
“I put this game on my shoulders,” Allen said. “If I were to knock down the free throw that I missed then we would have won the game.”
