The return of leading scorer Funda Nakkasoglu wasn’t enough for the Florida women’s basketball team to earn its fourth-consecutive victory.
Ohio State secured the win in the final six minutes of the game on Sunday, defeating the Gators 46-41 in Columbus.
Florida (3-7) held leads after the first, second and third quarters and led for a large chunk of the fourth – in all, more than 34 minutes. The Gators fell apart late. The Buckeyes (4-3) scored the last eight points and held the Gators to only four points in the fourth quarter.
After sitting out the last two games with an ankle injury, Nakkasoglu once again led the Gators in scoring, this time with 14 points. The only other player in double digits was Ohio State forward Makayla Waterman, who had 11.
It was a struggle all afternoon for both offenses. Florida’s 41 points is its lowest total of the season – 15 less than the next closest game. Its 24.6 percent field goal percentage was its worst of the season as well. Ohio State also had its lowest output of the year offensively.
“I mean, if you were to tell me we held a team to 46 points and lost, I would say you're crazy,” Florida coach Cam Newbauer said in a release. “Ultimately just couldn't knock down enough shots to get it done today.”
Rebounding separated the two teams. Ohio State had 51 to Florida’s 39, including a 17-11 advantage in offensive boards.
“We knew we wanted to back off and make them shoot jump shots from the perimeter, that's why they were 1-of-19 from three, but when you give up that many offensive rebounds and they can get 13 second chance points, that's the game,” Newbauer said.
The Gators head to Las Vegas next, where they will take part in the Duel in the Desert tournament. They will take on undefeated Utah on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Follow Sam Campisano on Twitter @samcampisano and contact him at scampisano@alligator.org.
Guard Funda Nakkasoglu played for the first time in two games and led the Gators in scoring with 14 points.
