Coach Amanda Butler stuck to her word, and the Gators came out running against North Florida on Tuesday in the O’Connell Center. But the start wasn’t what they envisioned.
UF began the game with three early turnovers and didn’t put its first points on the board until more than 2-1/2 minutes in. Through 10 minutes, the Gators had more turnovers (8) than points (7).
The Gators (3-1) recovered to defeat UNF 54-51, but the game left Butler with many questions as her team prepares for its second road trip of the season.
After criticizing the team’s shot selection in its last-second defeat against DePaul, Florida was again plagued by poor decisions on the offensive end.
“I never felt like we set the tone,” Butler said. “We’ve got to work on our feel for the game. We continually tried to make plays from the 3-point line. But when the shot is not falling you’ve got to find something else to do.”
A 10-1 run for UNF (1-3) put the Ospreys ahead 16-7 midway through the first half and forced Florida to abandon the press and try to get back in the game with its size inside.
The Gators responded with five straight baskets in the paint heading into halftime, and UNF’s lead was closed to 25-20.
The fast pace returned at the start of the second half, and the Gators capitalized on steals by Jennifer George and Lanita Bartley to turn the five-point deficit into a five-point lead with 15 minutes left to play.
Despite holding a clear size advantage, the Gators attempted just 10 shots from inside the paint, contributing to a season-low 33.3 field goal percentage. Poor shooting was a trend and UNF’s 29.8 percent showing helped the Gators stay in the game.
UNF fought to stay close, but post players George and Azania Stewart helped make the difference.
Stewart hit the floor battling for loose balls multiple times in the final minutes and pitched in four of Florida’s final six points. George added two pivotal rebounds and two key assists in the final 3:43 to add to her totals of 13 points, 10 boards and four assists.
After UF switched to zone defense, they held UNF to just four points over the last 6:32.
“Our team did a great job of adjusting, knowing there were four shooters out there and really understanding how big those boards were,” Butler said.
Stewart matched George’s double-double performance with 12 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double in four games.
