Jennifer George had already racked up four points, two rebounds and an assist only 4:28 into the game. However, the senior also accounted for two of Florida’s four early fouls.
The Gators played without their leading point score until less than two minutes were left in the half.
“I thought we had great balance,” coach Amanda Butler said. “We handled the adversity of not having Jennifer for most of the first half because of fouls, but I think that’s important for us; that’s going to happen.”
Without George, freshman January Miller led UF to a 13-point halftime lead by tallying eight points, four rebounds and an assist. Florida (5-1) went on to defeat Northern Iowa (2-3) 80-63 in its second game at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas, Nev.
“Jan did a great job,” Butler said. “(She) came in and gave us a spurt and made some of those plays that really turned the momentum in our direction.”
Miller went on to set a career-high 12 points in only 19 minutes on the court. Guard Carlie Needles added to Florida’s momentum by tying a game-high 14 points.
“I thought the team did a great job,” George said. “I just thought everyone stepped up. We’re not just a one person team.”
After averaging a team-high 25.6 minutes per game, George registered 18 minutes on Saturday because of foul trouble.
George started the second half by making a field goal, but then registered her third foul of the game almost four minutes later. Butler immediately took her out. George came back with 11:28 left.
Although George was disappointed in her foul troubles, Butler believes her team has enough depth to be effective even if the senior forward finds herself on the bench again.
“It makes us really hard not just to guard but prepare for,” Butler said on points being spread throughout Florida’s lineup. “I think we have a lot of good combinations that make it really hard to focus on one individual.”
Florida is hoping for a clean sweep in Las Vegas as they head into Sunday’s game against Arizona State. The Gators watched the Sun Devils play following Saturday’s victory.
“It’s a great advantage … to watch them live,” Butler said. “I think we get a jump on the preparation by having this live opportunity … But we’ll have another film session, we’ll get up in the morning, come out here on the court, wake up, walk through, get some tape on and then play.”
Contact Katie Agostin at kagostin@alligator.org.
