On Sunday night, the Gators (5-3) celebrated their second road win of the year the same way as their first.
Ice cream for the team.
The sweet treat may be the most consistent aspect of Florida’s three-game winning streak when you consider how varied the team’s path to victory has been.
In a 10-point victory against Jacksonville on Nov. 28, the Gators scored a season-high 36 points in the paint, but hit a season-low six shots from beyond the arc.
Against Oklahoma five days later, they took the opposite approach. UF totaled just 18 points in the paint — its second-lowest total of the year — and made 12 three-pointers on its way to a 19-point win.
“You have to morph into whatever the defense is giving you or forcing you to try to do that night,” coach Cameron Newbauer said after the Jacksonville game. “You have to capitalize on that.”
Florida may need a presence both inside and out when it hosts No. 12 Ohio State (8-2) today at 5:30 p.m. The Buckeyes come into Gainesville having won seven of their previous eight games and boast the leading scorer in Division I, Kelsey Mitchell.
Mitchell, a 5-foot-8 guard, is averaging 25.7 points per game. A majority of her work comes from behind the three-point line, where she averages 10.5 shots per game.
In the paint, the Buckeyes feature forward Stephanie Mavunga, who’s averaging 12.2 rebounds per game, good for ninth in Division I. Mavunga’s defense doesn’t end with rebounding — the 6-foot-3 forward blocks just over two shots per game.
Florida guard Dyandria Anderson, who set a new career high in points against Oklahoma, said while she and her teammates enjoyed arguably their best win of the season, they need to retain the lessons learned from it.
“We can’t just forget about them," Anderson said.
A video from FloridaGators.com contributed to this report.
You can follow Morgan McMullen on Twitter @MorganMcMuffin, and contact him at mmcmullen@alligator.org.
Florida guard Dyandria Anderson, who set a new career high in points against Oklahoma, said while she and her teammates enjoyed arguably their best win of the season, they need to retain the lessons learned from it. “We can’t just forget about them," Anderson said.
