Sydney Moss has been a bright spot in Florida’s otherwise gloomy season.
The injury-riddled and inexperienced Gators have struggled during Southeastern Conference play, where they are tied for eighth with Arkansas.
A berth in the NCAA Tournament would probably require UF winning the SEC Tournament, an unlikely scenario given the Gators have failed to beat any of the five teams that are atop the conference.
But moving forward, Moss projects to be among the SEC’s elite, a player that Florida could use to ascend in the standings next season.
“When Sydney plays with a lot of command and presence, she is about as talented as anybody in this league,” coach Amanda Butler said.
“She is so versatile. She can finish, shoot the ball well, come off screens, make things happen on defense, and when she rebounds the basketball … the 3 seconds that follow that rebound are probably as special as anyone I’ve ever coached.”
Known as a proficient scorer coming out of high school, Moss has quickly developed more aspects of her game.
She is 13th in the SEC in rebounding during conference play. Her 6.3 boards per game rank third among freshmen.
But Moss is best at getting her teammates involved. She leads UF in assists with 3.8 per contest, which is the second-highest rate among SEC freshmen. Only Missouri guard Lianna Doty averages more, with 4.8 per game.
“She’s just a ridiculous passer,” Butler said.
“She can make passes when she is on the perimeter for us that none of our other perimeter players can. Her size and strength and vision and feel for the game, that’s one of the areas that she’s unique on our team.”
Said Kayla Lewis: “She just has some abilities that you can’t coach. She has a great feel for the game and makes her teammates better. She makes me look good.”
Moss’ vision was on display in Florida’s 67-61 come-from-behind victory at Alabama on Sunday.
Despite scoring just four points on 2-of-7 shooting, she stayed productive during the game by accumulating nine assists and six rebounds while logging 27 minutes.
The freshman guard was particularly efficient during the second half, acting as the catalyst for Florida’s largest comeback of the season.
Trailing 53-40 with 10:36 remaining, the Gators scored nine straight points to close the gap.
Moss assisted on a three-pointer by Bonds to begin the run, then pulled down a defensive rebound and found freshman forward Christin Mercer for a layup on the other end of the floor.
The freshman guard then blocked the shot of Alabama forward Kaneisha Horn, leading to another layup by Mercer. Moss finished the run by finding Lewis for a jumper to pull the Gators 4 with less than 3 minutes after the run began.
When Moss made her only field goal of the second half with 5:16 remaining, UF took a 59-57 lead — its first since leading 32-31 at halftime.
The Gators never trailed again in the game.
“I was really disappointed with the way she started the game,” Butler said. “But she really got into a groove and started playing aggressive and confident basketball when we needed it most.”
Contact Phillip Heilman at pheilman@alligator.org.
Sydney Moss (40) attempts a pass during Florida’s 68-57 loss to Vanderbilt on Thursday in the O’Connell Center. Moss notched her third career double-double in Florida's 67-56 loss at South Carolina on Sunday.
