With sophomore guard Sydney Morang ruled out for the season in late November with concussion-like symptoms, the Florida women’s basketball team has lacked backcourt depth at practice for most of the year.
Coach Cameron Newbauer was nearly at a loss for words to describe his team’s nine-point defeat against Alabama on Thursday.
After receiving an inbound pass at the top of the key, Florida forward Paulina Hersler pulled up with five seconds left in the fourth quarter. Down by two, Hersler missed a shot to the right of the rim, but guard Dyandria Anderson pulled down an offensive rebound and scored a layup with less than one second remaining to send the game to overtime.
Florida forward Haley Lorenzen called for the ball with just over five minutes left in the game. After setting a screen for a streaking teammate, Lorenzen posted up Alabama’s Ashley Williams, boxing her out beneath the basket before snatching an inlet pass from teammate Delicia Washington with both hands. She raised up for the layup, was fouled by Williams and ultimately landed a pair of late free throws to go up by two.
With under four minutes left in the second quarter, Florida guard Funda Nakkasoglu was sent to the charity stripe for a pair of free throws. After Nakkasoglu buried one of her two attempts, the Gators slowly watched their eight-point lead slip away at the end of the half and went into the break ahead by one.
With the final seconds winding down and the game well in hand, Florida guard Tameria Johnson ran down a Delaware State fast break attempt and poked the ball away. As she took it across half court, coach Cameron Newbauer signaled his offense to run one more play. But Johnson, looking over to her bench, lost the handle and was called for a backcourt violation. The freshman laughed it off, shook her head and jogged back for the final defensive possession of the afternoon.
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.
Solutions by The State News
