When Florida was down, senior Jaterra Bonds stepped up.
Bonds and the Gators engineered the fourth-largest comeback in program history with a 67-65 overtime victory against Georgetown on Saturday in the O’Connell Center.
The Hoyas dominated the first half, shooting 14-for-28 from the field compared to the Gators’ 5-for-24.
With the score 34-18 in favor of Georgetown at halftime, adjustments clearly had to be made for Florida.
“Obviously, halftime gives you a chance to regroup,” coach Amanda Butler said. “Some things you point out are obvious and other things aren’t so obvious. The team had a chance to sit in the locker room and talk about what’s wrong, the positives and the negatives. They write those down on the board and discuss before the coaches come in. And then obviously we come in with a big challenge to their hearts and their toughness because I just didn’t think we played with the level of toughness that represents who we are. You never want to be in a situation when you’re being less than who you are or different than who you are when your identity is so positive, because ours is. The way we play is so positive. Let’s make that most important; let’s not let someone else’s agenda be more important than ours. Obviously, they responded to that message very well.”
The Gators then roared back into contention, starting the second half on an 11-0 run, and at the end of regulation, the game was tied at 58.
Florida finally took its first lead of the game three seconds into overtime on a 3-point play from Bonds and would not relinquish it.
Bonds finished the night with a career-high 26 points.
“This win is a quality win because we were able to fight back,” she said. “Going into the next part of the season, SEC play, our games are going to be even tougher and just like this. So, this game is preparation.”
With Saturday’s victory, the Gators went 6-0 in the month of December. The last time Florida went undefeated in December was 2008, a season in which the Gators advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Follow Gordon Streisand on Twitter @GordonStreisand
