A perplexing season for the Florida women’s basketball team ended in a familiar and heartbreaking fashion Thursday night.
Ahead by as many as 17 points in the second half, UF appeared to be cruising into its first Women’s National Invitation Tournament round of eight since the field expanded to 64 teams.
But turnovers and poor shooting transformed a near rout into an overtime loss, as the Gators (20-15) fell 81-77 to the 49ers (26-9) in Halton Arena in Charlotte, N.C.
“Our turnovers were the story of the game,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “We certainly scored enough points. …We just coughed the ball up way too much.”
Florida jumped out to an early 18-8 lead on the strength of freshman Jaterra Bonds’ three-point shooting. The guard started 4 of 4 from beyond the arc, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting by halftime, and as a team, Florida seemed unable to miss.
UF shot 50 percent in the first half, making five threes to Charlotte’s zero and went into the locker room up by 12 at 43-31.
The Gators scored the first five points out of the break to extend their lead to a game-high 17 points, and the 49ers didn’t claim their first lead until midway through the second half, when Jessica Johnson drained a three-pointer to make it 53-51.
Charlotte’s Shannon McCallum, who was limited to four points in the first, exploded for 21 in the final 25 minutes, including multiple game-changing shots.
Trailing 69-67 with less than two minutes left in regulation, McCallum knocked down her third three of the half, putting Charlotte back on top.
Bonds missed a look from long range on the other end, and McCallum took it the distance to give the 49ers a 72-69 lead with 1:02 remaining.
Bonds, who finished with a career-high 23 points, answered right back with a three of her own, forcing overtime. Jordan Jones made a step-back three from the top of the key with 1:18 left in the extra period to give Florida a 77-74 lead.
But then, the Gators collapsed.
McCallum pulled up quickly from outside to tie the game at 77, then Jennifer Hailey forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounds play, giving Charlotte an easy layup and a two-point lead.
Down two, Florida still had a chance, but under pressure from Charlotte, Bonds dribbled the ball off her foot, and the 49ers took possession. McCallum then found Kendria Holmes all alone for an easy layup, putting the game out of reach with 18 seconds left.
“That was the nail — that put the nail in them right there,” McCallum said.
Charlotte scored 27 points off Florida giveaways and outscored the Gators 42-28 in the paint. But the story, as Butler pointed out, was the turnovers. Florida had 22 to Charlotte’s 12, while the 49ers dished 22 assists to the Gators’ 11.
“A month ago, they would have packed it in at some point and gotten too down on themselves and thought they couldn’t do it,” Charlotte coach Karen Aston said.
Asked what sparked the Charlotte comeback, Aston had a succinct reply.
“It was a lot of Shannon McCallum, wasn’t it?”
