A season ago, Florida entered its annual game against FSU with no momentum.
It was coming off a season-opening loss against Temple and was unranked, having to face the No. 6 Seminoles at home.
“Bad time to play Florida State,” guard Simone Westbrook said at the time.
The Gators won.
Despite trailing by as many as six in the fourth quarter, UF had built a 10-point lead by the end of the game.
But facing the No. 7 Seminoles on Thursday night, the No. 23 Gators (6-3) got dominated in the second half, leading to a 83-58 loss in Tallahassee.
“We didn’t come out ready on, really, any front,” UF coach Amanda Butler said. “... You can’t play poorly against a good team on their home floor, and that’s what we did today.”
Senior Ronni WIlliams led the Gators with 20 points, but no other Florida players scored in double figures.
FSU, meanwhile, had six players in double figures. Leticia Romero led the scoring with 21.
The Gators hung around early, keeping things close and grabbing the lead with 3:19 left in the third quarter off a jumper from sophomore Eleanna Christinaki. That shot was followed by a 10-0 Seminole run from which Florida never recovered.
Outside the first quarter, the Gators never led.
However, they did keep it close in the first half. At the break, they trailed by 10.
In the third quarter, though, FSU’s lead grew to 14, and by the end of the game, it had ballooned to 25.
Butler was especially critical of her team’s turnovers after the game. The Gators gave away the ball 27 times to FSU’s 18. That included surrendering 18 steals to the Seminoles. For comparison, UF stole the ball six times.
“We turned the ball over a whole lot tonight, and that’s something that’s not really characteristic of this team,” Butler said. “Twenty-seven turnovers is too much against anybody. Especially a good team.”
The loss is the second for Florida in as many games. In addition, UF has now lost three of its last five.
The Gators’ first opportunity to rebound from the loss will come on Sunday afternoon at 3 against North Carolina A&T.
A video broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
UF forward Ronni Williams goes for a layup during Florida's 53-45 win against LSU on Jan. 17, 2016, in the O'Connell Center.
