Hoping to improve its NCAA Tournament chances, the Gators grinded out an important comeback victory on Sunday.
Florida (15-9, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) overcame a turnover-filled, poorly played first half to send Auburn to its eighth consecutive loss, beating the Tigers 65-57 in Auburn Arena.
“A tremendous second-half effort,” coach Amanda Butler said. “We played about 30 minutes of good basketball, maybe 28. (We) had a really, really slow start. I’m really proud of our team for not letting that set the tone for the whole game.”
Florida struggled to gain momentum in the first half. Following a field goal by freshman Christin Mercer less than 2 minutes into the contest, the Gators were held scoreless for the next 7:03 as Auburn took an 11-2 lead.
Poor shooting has plagued the Gators early in SEC play, and turnovers compounded the problem against the Tigers.
UF made just 1 of its first 9 shots and turned the ball over seven times before freshman January Miller connected on a three-point field goal to snap the Gators’ extended scoring drought.
Florida turned the ball over 15 times in the contest.
“People will look at Auburn’s record and only winning two games in the SEC and think this isn’t a good team, and that’s just not true,” Butler said. “It’s huge for us just to continue building that momentum.”
Consistent offense was difficult to find for either team throughout the game. Each shot 33.3 percent from the floor.
However, UF exposed an undersized Auburn squad.
Mercer and senior Jennifer George combined for 23 points on 11-of-23 shooting. The pair helped UF dominate inside, outscoring Auburn 30-18 in the paint and outrebounding the Tigers 48-35.
“In the first 4 minutes we struggled, so we wanted to come out in the second half and the end of the first half and show our will,” George said.
Leading 39-38 in the second half, the Gators used a 12-3 run to open a 51-41 advantage with 7:16 remaining.
Despite poor shooting from the three-point line — the Gators made just 5 of 18 attempts on Sunday — UF’s run was bolstered by junior Lily Svete.
As Auburn (13-11, 2-9 SEC) attempted to clog the middle and limit the effectiveness of Mercer and George, Svete found space to shoot. She connected on three attempts from behind the arc during a 3:39 span in the second half.
“People watch us play and scout us, and they’ve got to have an answer for our low block,” Butler said. “Jennifer gets a lot of attention, and that allows Lily … to find her spot and find her shot. She is doing a great job of knocking those down.”
Freshman Sydney Moss rounded out a balanced offensive effort for the Gators, who won at Auburn for the first time since 2004. Moss scored nine points while notching 11 rebounds and six assists.
“That’s what you are supposed to do after a bye week,” Butler said.
“When we finally shook that off and decided how good Auburn was and experienced how we needed to play to beat them, I thought we made great changes in intensity.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Phillip Heilman at pheilman@alligator.org.
Forward Jennifer George (32) attempts a pass during Florida’s 87-54 victory against Alabama on Feb. 3. The Gators improved to 4-6 in Southeastern Conference play on Sunday.
