With two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, Florida guard Paulina Hersler received a pass at the top of the key. She stepped back, jumped up and drained the three-pointer, giving the Gators a 24-point advantage, their largest lead of the contest.
Dyandria Anderson hadn’t scored all game. Undeterred, the Florida guard drove down the right side of the court. With the Gators down by three and just under five minutes remaining in the contest, Anderson lurched hard into a trailing defender and drained a layup while drawing a foul. She then swished the free throw and tied the game up at 55 apiece.
With less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Florida guard Dyandria Anderson stopped her dribble and launched a cross court pass to teammate Funda Nakkasoglu. Nakkasoglu caught the ball, launched a three from the corner of the court and watched it fall through the bottom of the net.
Halfway through the third quarter, Florida’s women’s basketball team felt momentum shifting in its favor.
On Sunday night, the Gators (5-3) celebrated their second road win of the year the same way as their first.
As Funda Nakkasoglu missed a wide-open layup, she and teammate Haley Lorenzen shared a laugh. Her embarrassing miss didn’t matter, as the Gators (5-3) were just minutes away from sealing an 80-61 road victory over the Oklahoma Sooners (3-4).
Redshirt junior guard Funda Nakkasoglu drove to the paint from the right side of the three-point line. She beat her defender, cut inside the incoming forward and raised up for a layup attempt without opposition.
When Funda Nakkasoglu missed a three-pointer with 9:27 remaining in the second quarter, forward Haley Lorenzen used her 6-foot-3 frame to snatch an offensive rebound. She dribbled, retreated a few steps, and nailed a jumper from the elbow to extend a lead Florida would never give up.
On Monday afternoon, Florida emerged from its locker room and took the court for practice. Dressed in their all-blue practice uniforms, the Gators shot around, with multiple players getting reps at the free-throw line and from behind the arc.
Already up by 11 points with 5:02 to go in the first quarter, Delicia Washington snagged a rebound and called for her teammates to sprint up the court. She dished an outlet pass to Sydney Searcy, who promptly drained a three-pointer just six seconds after Washington came down with the ball.
With the final minute winding down in the game, Sydney Searcy hoisted a three-point attempt in the right-hand corner directly off an inbound pass, and swished it.
With less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Funda Nakkasoglu ran down the floor before taking the ball across the halfcourt line. She fell and remained down on the sideline for several moments. With coach Cameron Newbauer to her left, the junior transfer walked off the court gingerly and was replaced by freshman Tameria Johnson.
Throughout his news conference following the Gators’ loss to Florida State, UF coach Cameron Newbauer kept his head down as he assessed a 30-point home blowout.
Freshman forward Mikayla Hayes got the feed in the paint, dribbled once and spun over her left shoulder. She went up for the jump hook but was soundly rejected by Florida State’s Chatrice White, much to the delight of the FSU contingent behind the Seminoles’ bench.
Up by two with less than five minutes remaining against Arkansas State, the Gators pushed hard up the court. As the play developed, sophomore guard Delicia Washington received a long outlet pass but stepped out of bounds. Turnover.
Dyandria Anderson put up a prayer from the left side of the court. With two seconds left on the game clock, the senior’s three-point attempt bounced off the back rim as Arkansas State’s Akasha Westbrook grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.
Seven Florida players made three-pointers in UF’s season-opening win over the weekend. Just how coach Cameron Newbauer likes it.
As halftime drew near, Sydney Searcy’s unofficial theme song began to play.
Coach Cameron Newbauer runs practices in the same manner he wants to run his in-game offense: fast. Players are expected to hustle to and from every exercise. On fast-break drills, ball handlers make one quick pass to the outside and position themselves for a potential rebound.
In her three seasons at UF, Haley Lorenzen has seen improvements in her scoring, developed a three-point shot and been accepted into graduate school, studying in the sports management program.
Solutions by The State News
