The Southeastern Conference is undoubtedly tough this season, with six teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
After a mediocre finish in non-conference play this season, the Gators women’s basketball team needs to capitalize on games against mid-level conference opponents if the team has any chance of returning to the NCAA tournament.
So far this season, that hasn’t happened.
Florida arrived in Columbia, Missouri this weekend looking for its second SEC win against a struggling Tigers team, yet left searching for answers after a 66-47 loss on Sunday.
Florida (9-8, 1-3 SEC) was hoping to correct the mistakes that doomed the team at home against Ole Miss on Thursday.
But the Gators once again let a slim halftime lead turn into a monumental deficit in the second half.
Despite a poor first half shooting-wise, Florida held a 24-22 lead at the halfway mark, with the Gators coming out hot from the field in the beginning of the game.
Brooke Copeland and Cassie Peoples opened the scoring with a three-pointer apiece, and Florida seemed poised to correct the shooting troubles the team has displayed recently in SEC play.
But Florida would finish the game 14-for-61 from the field, good for a season-low 23 percent, and Missouri (11-6, 1-3 SEC) made sure to capitalize on the opportunity to get its first conference victory of the season.
"We shot poorly and unfortunately that’s not a new trend for us," coach Amanda Butler said in a release.
"That’s why it’s just so important that we don’t have those defensive breakdowns, in particular defensive breakdowns as rebounders. If you’re not going to shoot well, we have to have a heroic effort on the boards and we didn’t have that."
It would be the Tigers who would get hot from behind the arc, using a barrage of long-range shots to eventually pull away from the Gators after the break.
Missouri opened the contest 2-for-12 from three-point range, the team seemingly unable to find a consistent rhythm in its offense.
The Tigers came out of the break shooting hot like wasabi, going 7-for-14 from three-point in the second half, including their first 18 points in the second half from downtown.
Ronni Williams and Peoples led Florida with 12 points each, yet Peoples shot just 2-for-18 from the field.
The 5-foot-6 guard couldn’t find a rhythm the entire night save for the opening minutes from behind the arc, going 0-for-11 from inside the three-point range.
January Miller, expected to provide ball facilitation in place of the injured Carlie Needles, continued her shooting woes of late, going scoreless amid an 0-for-8 shooting performance from the field.
For Florida’s defense, it appears that the team needs to hold opponents below 60 points to secure a victory — the Gators are 1-5 this season when opponents score in the 60’s against them. Butler has been exceptionally complimentary of the Gators defensive prowess this season, yet the other side of the game is a different story entirely.
The poor execution of the team’s offense has left the eighth-year coach searching for answers, and fast, considering Florida’s next two opponents, Kentucky on the road and South Carolina at home, both hold a place in the top 10 of the AP rankings.
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
Ronni Williams goes up for a layup during Florida's 84-73 win against Jacksonville on Nov. 14 in the O'Connell Center
