With two minutes left in the second quarter, A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates smacked Dyandria Anderson’s layup attempt out of bounds like they were spiking a volleyball.
The two looked at each other, smiled nonchalantly and shook hands before getting back into their defensive positions.
It was that kind of day for No. 5 South Carolina.
The Gamecocks defeated unranked Florida 81-62 on Sunday afternoon in the O’Connell Center behind a stellar defensive effort, blocking six shots and holding the Gators to a season-low 36.5 shooting percentage from the field.
UF also had no answer for Wilson, who finished with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds to notch her fifth double-double this season.
Freshman guard Delicia Washington, meanwhile, led Florida in scoring with 18 points and added seven rebounds and three steals. However, her performance wasn’t enough to propel the Gators (9-7, 0-3 SEC) to their first SEC victory of 2017.
“People, against a great team like South Carolina, are OK with respectable losses,” UF coach Amanda Butler said. “(But) that’s not the way that we’re wired. That’s not what our expectation is. We’re very disappointed that we lost.”
After an evenly played first frame saw Florida trailing by only two points, the following 10 minutes were a disaster for the Gators.
UF’s starting frontcourt of Tyshara Fleming, Haley Lorenzen and Ronni Williams all picked up their third fouls, forcing Butler to bench her bigs and go with a smaller lineup.
As a result, the Gamecocks (13-1, 3-0 SEC) outrebounded Florida 17-9 in the quarter, including seven offensive boards that resulted in 12 second-chance points.
South Carolina’s defense also generated four blocks and held the Gators to a woeful 1-of-14 shooting in the period. UF finished the half missing its final 11 field-goal attempts and was outscored 26-5 in the second quarter.
“We were playing lineups that we’re not used to playing,” Lorenzen said. “So that also makes things a little bit more challenging against such a good defense.”
Florida’s fiasco of a second quarter ultimately proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Gators outscored the Gamecocks 57-55 in the other three frames combined and shot 46.7 percent from the field in the second half, leaving Butler optimistic about her team moving forward.
“I think we made great progress in the right direction,” Butler said. “We’re excited about our next opportunity. There’s just a few things that are within our control that we’ve got to do a better job with.”
Next up for UF is another challenging matchup on Thursday when the Gators travel to Starkville to face No. 4 Mississippi State (17-0, 3-0 SEC) at 9 p.m. The Bulldogs have won two straight against Florida.
Contact Dylan Dixon at ddixon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @dylanrdixon.
Amanda Butler calls out instructions during Florida's 92-69 loss to Kentucky at the SEC Tournament on March 4, 2016.
