Down by three points with six seconds to play, Florida had one final chance to tie.
On the in-bounds play, Ndidi Madu reared back and released a baseball pass across the court, and Jennifer George jumped to catch the lob.
So did multiple Kentucky defenders, resulting in a jump ball that went to UK.
“It’s a play we practice every day,” redshirt senior guard Jordan Jones said. “Unfortunately, they had the (possession) arrow. It’s something we practice every day and have a lot of confidence in.”
The Gators’ last miscue was one of many in a 57-52 loss to the No. 6 Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., on Sunday.
The stretch that sealed Florida’s fate against Kentucky began with 3:18 to play in the first half.
After an Azania Stewart jumper gave the Gators a 21-16 lead, Florida went cold. UF scored just two points during the next 10 minutes, allowing a five-point advantage to turn into a 15-point deficit on a 22-2 UK run.
The scoring drought proved to be too much for the Gators to overcome.
“You can’t have those spells where you let a really good team create a lead, where you’ve got to scratch and crawl back,” Butler said.
In Florida’s 59-56 home loss to Kentucky on New Year’s Day, the Gators went into halftime trailing the Wildcats 33-29. UF found itself in a similar situation on Sunday, tied with UK 21-21 after the first 20 minutes of play.
Florida could have easily held an advantage had it not been for its inefficiency from the charity stripe. The Gators were 1 of 6 on free-throw shooting in the first half.
“It was the difference in the game,” Jones said. “That’s the difference in more momentum going into halftime, so it’s definitely something that cost us the game.”
Jones led Florida’s offense with 13 points, but a 1-of-6 clip from 3-point range marred her scoring effort. Jaterra Bonds and Jennifer George also scored in double digits, putting up 10 points each.
Despite their spotty offense, the Gators stayed in the game thanks to a solid defensive showing.
Florida limited Kentucky to 30 percent shooting, including an 18.8 percent mark from beyond the arc, and forced 17 Wildcat turnovers.
Particularly impressive was UF’s defense on UK’s leading scorer A’dia Mathies (15.3 points per game), who finished with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
“(Mathies) is the best player in the conference right now and we wanted to limit her touches,” Butler said.
The Gators had 23 giveaways, which helped lead to their fourth loss in six SEC games decided by six points or fewer.
While Madu’s errant heave was the most glaring error for Florida, it was just one of many for a UF squad that continues to have difficulties taking care of the ball.
“You can’t give it back to them 23 times and expect to win a close game,” Butler said.
“This is the best team in our conference so far and we’ve played them to possession ball games two times now and really had things in our hands and turned it over to them.”
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org
Forward Jennifer George (32) battles in the paint with Kentucky guards Amber Smith (24) and Bria Goss during the Gators 57-52 loss to the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., on Sunday. Florida has lost three straight to Kentucky.
