Florida showed Monday why there’s no substitute for size.
Playing in front a sellout, record-breaking crowd of 4,543, the Gators’ bigs made the difference in a 74-69 victory over Florida Gulf Coast in the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Monday in Alico Arena in Fort Myers.
“(Our) teamwork … seemed to get better when things were at their worst,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “We were down seven, eight, nine a few times and it was loud in here.”
Florida struggled against the nation’s best three-point shooting team in the first half, allowing 7 of 14 three-pointers that helped put FGCU up by five at the break.
But the game was decided inside — where FGCU lacked a significant contributor taller than 5-foot-10.
After FGCU guard Courtney Chihil made a driving layup and the following foul shot to put the Eagles up 63-62 with just more than five minutes left, Florida forward Jennifer George and center Azania Stewart took control.
The 6-foot-4 Stewart made an easy turnaround layup to give the Gators the lead. Shortly after, Stewart forced an airballed three-pointer and George scored easily on the other end.
Then, after a miss by FGCU’s Nicoya Jackson, Stewart added another layup to give Florida a 68-63 lead with 3:07 remaining.
“When we started to try to establish ourselves in the paint successfully ... that was triggered by Azania and George,” Butler said.
After getting run around the gym by a team full of smaller sharpshooters for much of the game, the Gators emerged when they finally took the game to the post.
George swatted the Eagles’ next two field goal attempts, allowing Florida to regain possession and guard Jaterra Bonds to clinch the game at the free-throw line.
George finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes, while Stewart posted six points and six boards.
The teams were actually tied at 11 rebounds each at halftime, and Butler said her team headed into the locker room disappointed with its effort on the glass.
“We knew they were going to try and do a lot of things to take our paint scoring away,” Butler said. “But it’s impossible to take away rebounding.”
Florida limited FGCU to just eight boards in the second half and finished with a 33-19 rebounding advantage.
While the difference-making plays came from the post, the scoring of Deana Allen (17 points) and Bonds (19 points) put the Gators in position.
Both had to step up after guards Lanita Bartley and Jordan Jones were limited by foul trouble.
The Eagles had won 42 straight at Alico Arena entering Monday’s contest, while the Gators had won just three of nine games on the road, including multiple heartbreaking losses.
“We’ve been here before,” Butler said. “We’ve been in hostile environments where the seats are filled with Gator haters. Being able to overcome it as opposed to coming up a possession short is a great demonstration of how far we’ve come this season.”
Fittingly, the season now comes full circle. With the win, Florida advances to play Charlotte on Thursday at 7 p.m., a team they defeated in the second round of the Preseason WNIT earlier this year.
