Bizarre happenings are commonplace within the Bermuda Triangle.
A winless Illinois State team beat Florida 68-64 on the first day of the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas on Friday.
A dreadful first half did the Gators in.
Florida shot 32 percent from the field and were 0-for-7 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. The Redbirds, on the other hand, were shooting 46.4 percent and led the Gators 35-24 at halftime.
“Illinois State was clearly just a lot more ready to play than the Gators were today and I have to take responsibility for that,” coach Amanda Butler said. “I’m just really, really embarrassed by the way we played in the first half, but then you have to give Illinois State credit for that.”
In the second half, the tide seemed to be turning in Florida’s favor. After being down by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Gators rallied to tie the game at 44 with 10:34 left in the second.
In fact, Florida had the lead with only 6:51 left in the game.
But it was not in the cards for the Gators, as they let said lead slip away in the waning minutes despite a valiant effort from senior Jaterra Bonds.
Bonds scored 24 points on Friday, with 13 of them coming in the second half.
However, Bonds’ performance was bested by Redbirds guard Chloe Nelson, who scored 26 points and shot 60 percent from the field.
“It wasn’t a surprise, just very disappointing when a lot of our game plan was focusing in on three of their players who take a majority of their shots that we continued to give up plays to those players,” Butler said. “We must not be doing a good enough job of emphasizing the right things because again, we have another individual who we expected to be their leading scorer, we wanted to give her that type of attention and she has 26 (points) today. We’re just not taking enough pride in our defense.”
The Gators play a consolation game Saturday against Oregon State, who lost to No. 13 Penn State 61-56 in their opening game.
“We have to be a whole lot tougher,” Butler said. “A whole lot mentally tougher, a whole lot physically tougher and get ready for tomorrow’s challenge.”
Follow Gordon Streisand on Twitter @GordonStreisand.
Jaterra Bonds attempts a shot during Florida's 88-77 victory against North Florida on Nov. 10 in the O'Connell Center.
