Without senior Jennifer George (shoulder), coach Amanda Butler was forced to juggle her starting lineup on Sunday.
Despite the change, the results were the same for the Gators: Another close loss in the Southeastern Conference and another missed opportunity to earn a victory that would augment the team’s NCAA Tournament resume.
Florida held No. 19 South Carolina to 23.4 percent shooting from the floor, but the Gamecocks used a sizable rebounding advantage to overcome a poor shooting night and win 52-44 in the O’Connell Center.
George’s absence was greatest felt inside, as South Carolina (16-3, 4-2 SEC), led by forward Aleighsa Welch’s 8 points 12 boards, outrebounded the Gators 59-41. The Gamecocks outscored UF 9-3 in second-chance points.
“George is a huge void to fill from Florida’s standpoint,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “I was kind of happy she wasn’t able to play because she gets double-doubles on us every time we play them.”
An exasperated Butler felt the downside of playing without her team’s leading scorer and rebounder.
Florida held the Gamecocks without a field goal in the final 9:39 of the second half. However, South Carolina was able to retain multiple possessions and earn trips to the free-throw line with critical rebounds late in the game.
“Really disappointed in our rebound performance,” Butler said. “It’s something we worked hard on this week and didn’t carry it over into the game. There is no excuse for that.”
The Gators made just 6 of their 26 shots from the floor in the first half and trailed by as many as 11 points, but Jaterra Bonds, as she has done throughout conference play, led UF to a resurgent second half.
Bonds scored a game-high 16 points and has led Florida in scoring in each of its five conference games. No other Gator scored more than six points.
Her layup with 12:14 left in the second half tied the game at 35.
“I was really proud of the fight,” Butler said. “We had played — I thought — our worst 20 minutes of basketball in that first half. You have to give South Carolina credit for that. It wasn’t all just us being inept.”
South Carolina responded with a 10-0 run during the next 2:35 to take a 45-35 lead with 9:39 remaining. Florida cut the deficit to three twice in the final 3:06 but couldn’t find enough offense to overcome the deficit.
“To scratch and claw back, because that’s what it feels like when you’re playing a team as tough as South Carolina, and put yourself in that position, and then just give it right back, it goes back to a lack of toughness,” Butler said.
“They turned up the heat on their toughness meter, and we backed down."
Entering Sunday, South Carolina led the conference in defense, allowing just 47.4 points per game. The Gamecocks were also first in the SEC in rebounding, topping opponents by an average of 11.7 boards per contest.
Each was a critical facet in the game.
“[Florida] came in averaging over 70 points a game,” Staley said. “We can’t get to 70 (points) if we paid for buckets. We did our jobs from the defensive standpoints, and we ended up having more points than them.”
Point guard Jaterra Bonds (10) runs the floor during Florida's 77-72 win against LSU on Jan. 6 in the O'Connell Center.
