All offseason, the coaches and players have talked about bringing a new brand of Gators basketball to Gainesville.
That new look was visible at times in Saturday’s 77-67 victory over visiting UCF in the first round of the Preseason Women’s NIT.
After falling behind 9-1 to start the game, the Gators used an attacking defense to take control. On a night when the team tied the school record for blocks with 14, it was the defense that set the tone and helped the Gators recover from 16 first-half turnovers.
“The good thing about having a lot of turnovers and still being able to have a win is that they’re correctable, they’re in your control,” coach Amanda Butler said. “A lot of our turnovers were things we did to ourselves. When you’re in charge of your own mistakes, you have a better chance at correcting them.”
The Gators did just that. Fans began to see the up-tempo style Butler wants to use during a 16-3 run in the final 5:14 of the first half, helping Florida build a 10-point lead.
UF came out of halftime much the same, extending its lead to 22 points.
“When we ran away from them … that was the tempo we needed, defensively and offensively,” Butler said.
Much of the spark came from the guard duo of Jaterra Bonds and Lanita Bartley.
Bonds came off the bench to lead the Gators with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting in a team-high 29 minutes of action. Bartley used her aggressive play to grab four steals and lead the Gators on multiple fast-break scoring opportunities.
The two brought the same intensity to the offensive end, driving to the basket and forcing UCF to defend in the paint as well as outside.
“I just use my quickness and do what I do,” Bartley said of her four steals. “I wanted to set the tempo and get my team involved and just run. That’s what we do best.”
She finished with 12 points and four rebounds in a nearly mistake-free 18 minutes.
Guard Kayla Lewis became the first true freshman to start a home opener since 2002, and she didn’t disappoint. Lewis stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal.
Despite going up by 22, the Gators’ lead shriveled to just five with 2:25 left in the game, but the players said they weren’t worried.
“We needed to step our tempo up,” Bonds said. “There was no way that lead should have got cut down to five points.”
Two clutch free throws and one of a team-high four blocks from center Azania Stewart sparked the Gators and extended the lead back to nine points with more than a minute to play.
“With all the hard work we have put in since June, it was time to go out there and have some fun,” Lewis said.
With the win, UF advances to the second round of the NIT and will take on Charlotte tonight at 7 in the O’Connell Center.
