Rebounding and foul trouble are again leading the Gators down a dark path.
In Sunday’s 68-62 loss to Georgia, Florida was taken to the woodshed, getting outrebounded by a margin of 20 — the second straight game in which the Gators were outrebounded by 20 or more.
“Obviously, we’re very disappointed in the way we played in the second half and the way that we rebounded the entire game, but that’s just our battle to fight,” coach Amanda Butler said.
“We’re obviously giving up a little bit of size and that’s what makes the box outs that much more important. Winning the rebounding battle is important, but as long as it’s close, it’s always going to swing one way or the other … I was just really disappointed. I thought there were a lot of hustle-play balls, long rebounds and things like that that we could have tracked down. They did a really good job of converting those balls into points. That’s something that we put in the category of preventable plays.”
Added senior Jaterra Bonds: “Ultimately, it was the second-chance points and points off of turnovers. They had 16 points off of turnovers and 22 second-chance points, and they killed us in both categories.”
The Gators’ leading rebounder on Sunday was freshman Ronni Williams, who tallied eight boards. Williams was on her way to a double-double until she fouled out with fewer than five minutes remaining in the game.
Down the stretch, Williams’ presence was missed. The Gators were outrebounded 11-3 in the game’s final five minutes.
All of Florida’s (13-5, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) losses have come when Williams fouls out. She has fouled out of 11 games so far this season.
The Gators were in the lead for the majority of Sunday’s contest, which can be directly attributed to the 18 turnovers Georgia committed in the first half. In that span, Florida committed nine.
“Florida came out and jumped on us, and we didn’t handle it well,” Georgia coach Andy Landers said. “It affected our pass-catch timing and shot selection and it led to 18 turnovers in the first half. That was ugly. That was really ugly. The second half, we did a much better job of that. By virtue of taking care of the ball, we had opportunities to shoot and score and overcome the lead.”
And when the Bulldogs cleaned up, the Gators wilted, getting outscored 44-32 in the second half.
“You have to give Georgia a lot of credit for the way they played, the way they shot the ball,” Butler said. “They did some things that were a little bit outside of their scouting report and what they’ve done to this point. You have to give them a lot of credit for hitting big shots, making plays and taking advantage of the things where we had weaknesses where they were very strong.”
Georgia was sharp from beyond the arc on Sunday, shooting 36.4 percent compared to Florida’s 21.4 percent.
The Gators had a better overall shooting percentage, committed less turnovers and forced more steals on Sunday, but the Bulldogs bested them the charity stripe and, ultimately, on the scoreboard.
“For us, which is what we’re most concerned with, we just need to put together 40 minutes of tough play with no gaps in that toughness,” Butler said. “Nobody is going to play flawless, but we’ve got to have a lot more battle and a lot more heart and the way we pursue the ball is really, really important. But, you’re also playing in the SEC, in the best league in the country and you don’t have much time to sit around and cry about this one because there’s another big one that’s coming. That’s just life at this time of year.”
Follow Gordon Streisand on Twitter @GordonStreisand
Cassie Peoples attempts a three-point shot against Georgia on Sunday in the O’Connell Center. UGA outscored UF by 12 in the second half.
