It wasn’t the characteristically slow start the Gators have shown this season, and with the way Florida (5-1) played, coach Amanda Butler can only hope the energetic starts continue for the team.
For the first time this season, the Florida women’s basketball team started strong and didn’t let up, leading the entire way to a 73-44 win over Virginia Tech (4-3) Monday night in the O’Connell Center.
With Butler urging the team to correct the lack of urgency the Gators seem to possess in the opening minutes, Florida opened the game strong and grabbed an early 10-2 lead.
From there, it was all UF.
Redshirt senior Kayla Lewis scored 15 points for the Gators, who never trailed.
Redshirt junior Cassie Peoples found herself with the hot hand from downtown, as the 5-foot-6 guard went 5-for-6 from the three-point range to end the game with 19 points.
Peoples leads the Gators with 31 assists, showing a tendency to look for her teammates if the shot isn’t there.
"I haven’t been shooting too well from the three-point line this year, but today I got into the gym a little extra, I shot 200 (three-point shots) before the game," Peoples said.
"That helped, it got me a little bit more comfortable."
It was a complete team effort from the Gators, who outhustled and outpositioned the Hokies consistently underneath the basket.
Facing a Virginia Tech team that featured eight players who were 6-foot or taller, Florida still found a way to outrebound its opponent 36-29 on the glass.
With the Hokies often running a 2-3 zone, Florida consistently found itself open from long-range, and the team was able to capitalize on its opportunities.
For the Gators, the key to getting open shots has been implementing the tactics the team has worked on in practice.
"We worked all week in our prep about getting into the middle, and I think that’s just a part of my game," Lewis said.
"It’s just a means of executing and hitting those shots."
Despite the added height the Gators have this season, Butler was encouraged the team was able to overcome the height disadvantage that numerous Florida players faced.
"We don’t ever look at (height) as how we’re going to rebound against them, size is way down the list of concerns," Butler said.
Florida’s leading rebounder, redshirt junior Carlie Needles, had perhaps her toughest game of the season. She scored eight points on 2-for-5 shooting, with both field goals coming from long range.
Florida’s shortest player also added three assists and grabbed four rebounds in the winning effort.
After knocking down five three-pointers Friday at Georgetown, Needles added two more to bring her career three-point total to 130 connections from behind the three point line.
Coming into Monday’s contest, Needles led the Southeastern Conference in three-point percentage, shooting 60.9 percent from behind the arc.
A combination of hot shooting, smart passing and strong full-court defense was the formula for the Gators, who forced the Hokies into 24 turnovers.
Virginia Tech came into the game averaging 16.5 turnovers per game.
But the Hokies repeatedly found themselves frustrated by the stifling Gators defense, with Florida getting 14 steals in what was a strong all-around defensive effort.
"I think we did a good job of following the game plan," Butler said. "The things we’ve been practicing, we made those important tonight."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
Cassie Peoples drives into the paint during Florida's win against Virginia Tech on Monday in the O'Connell Center.
