Facing its second Big East opponent on the road in less than a week, the Gators were able to avoid the early pace problems that have plagued the team throughout the season and beat Georgetown 81-73 on Friday night in Washington D.C.
With the team facing a four point halftime deficit, injured sophomore Ronni Williams found herself called upon to give the Gators the needed edge to get past the Hoyas. Still nursing a sprained ankle she suffered against St. John’s on Saturday, Williams returned to the Gators after the break and scored four points.
Florida (4-1) found itself troubled by a stingy Georgetown (2-5) defense that forced the Gators into nine turnovers in the first half alone.
Coach Amanda Butler was pleased with the team’s ability to avoid another slow start, instead doing just enough to stay in the game.
“Halfway through the second half I thought we really separated ourselves by just playing good basketball,” Butler said.
Butler has repeatedly preached the importance of outrebounding its opponent, yet the team found itself outrebounded 23-13 at halftime by Georgetown. The Hoyas grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the first half alone, and forced the Gators into nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
“We weren’t so concerned with our assists column, we were more concerned with our turnover column,” Butler said. “We valued the basketball better in the second half.”
Carlie Needles provided another outstanding performance on the glass for the Gators, grabbing eight rebounds while also scoring 15 points and dishing out four assists. Despite being one of the shortest players on the Gators’ roster at 5-foot-6, Needles leads the team in rebounding in the early going. Cassie Peoples, who also stands at 5-foot-6, added 17 points for Florida and a team-high six assists.
Having a quiet start to the season, redshirt senior Kayla Lewis finally got it going against the Hoyas. The redshirt senior scored 19 points, while also contributing four rebounds and two assists.
While Butler was content with the team’s ability to overcome an early deficit and pull out the win, the eighth-year coach was able to identify multiple aspects the team needs to continue to improve upon as it heads into Monday’s game against Virginia Tech.
“We’ve gotta continue to play better defense, find ways to get stops and lock up throughout the ball game, not just at those pivotal moments,” Butler said. “We have to do that more consistently, especially in the first half.”
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Carlie Needles drives into the paint during Florida's win against Longwood.
