The Seminoles gave the Gators a taste of their own medicine on Thursday night in the O’Connell Center.
Florida State needed only seven women to get the job done in a 76-68 victory over Florida, with four of them scoring in double digits.
“In our eyes, we lost the toughness battle in parts of the game tonight in parts of the game,” coach Amanda Butler said. “Not the entire game. There were certainly bright spots. I think we played hard, but there’s a difference between playing hard and playing tough.”
The first half was a sloppy one for both teams.
The Gators and the Seminoles shot a combined 4 of 22 in the first seven minutes. A Jaterra Bonds layup capped the stretch, putting UF ahead 6-5.
Then Florida increased its lead when Cassie Peoples hit a three pointer to increase the margin to 9-5 — the Gators’ largest lead of the night.
At halftime, Florida State led 34-29. Florida was shooting 25.9 percent from the field while Florida State was shooting 35.7 percent.
Early in the second half, the game started to slip away from the Gators. With 10 minutes remaining, the Seminoles were up 58-42.
Then, Ronni Williams showed up.
Williams dominated the floor, posting another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in 24 minutes.
The Gators were down six points with 48 seconds remaining when Williams fouled out for the fourth consecutive game.
“It’s just growing pains for Ronni,” Butler said. “I thought she had some tough calls, in fairness to her. But, that’s going to happen. That’s part of the game.”
“That being said, you can’t put yourself in position with the silly fouls. (Williams) is learning that the hard way. The game was called very close.
“That’s the way the game’s being called. She has to continue to adjust and find ways to improve because, obviously, she’s very important to us. Her presence was definitely felt and it was missed when she wasn’t on the floor.”
Compared to last year’s game in Tallahassee, Florida showed great improvement this time around.
January Miller played one of her best game of the season, shooting 70 percent from the field while scoring 19 points.
“We have the potential, but we never finished through,” Miller said. “We just have to have that extra ounce of fight to finish out these games. We’re just as good as any of these teams if we just fought more.”
Added Butler: “Jan shot the ball great. She gave us a great spark. Ronni’s consistency in terms of being able to deliver a double-double. I thought Jaterra (Bonds) was really trying to push the tempo and created some good things for us in pockets.”
Florida now prepares to face undefeated St. John’s on Tuesday night in Gainesville.
In the meantime, Butler and her team are focused on cleaning up a few aspects of their game.
“There’s two trends that, when we’ve played tough teams, we’ve got to be better at,” she said.
“That’s on the defensive end of the floor. You can’t give up 76 points, especially on your home floor. We’ve also got to play with a lot more composure. Way too many turnovers that I didn’t necessarily feel like we were forced into. Just some bad decisions and a little bit of panic.”
Follow Gordon Streisand on Twitter @GordonStreisand.
Sophomore forward Christin Mercer attempts a layup during the Gators' 76-68 loss to the Seminoles on Thursday night in the O’Connell Center.
