Freshman center
Vanessa Hayden (Orlando, FL/Boone) scored a career and game-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds leading the University of Florida women's basketball team to a 78-56 win over Harvard (0-2) in the first round of the Dead River Company Classic. The Lady Gators (3-0) face the winner of tonight's second game between Maine and Central Michigan, which tipped off at 7 p.m., in Saturday's championship at 7 p.m. in Alfond Arena.
"Vanessa (Hayden) continues to grow in practice and in games and tonight," UF head coach
Carol Ross said. "When the lights come on, Vanessa has a game face that she turns on and she comes to play. She did that tonight and really was a force on both sides of the floor."
Hayden shot 9-of-10 from the field, 4-of-5 from the free throw line and blocked three shots in 21 minutes of action.
UF junior
Brandi McCain (Silsbee, TX/Silsbee) scored 19 points and dished five assists, while senior
Tombi Bell (Miami, FL/Miami Norland) added 11 points and sophomore
Jameelah Trimble (Opa-Locka, FL/American Senior) contributed a career-high 10 points.
Lindsay Ryba led Harvard with 21 points hitting 5-of-6 from beyond the three-point line, while Hana Peljto and Katie Gates added 12 points apiece in a losing cause.
Florida led 42-28 at halftime, but Harvard chipped away and got within nine points, 55-46, after back-to-back three-pointers with 9:20 remaining in the game. But UF's Bell hit a trey of her own to ignite a devastating 19-1 run over the next six minutes as the Lady Gators pulled away from the Crimson with a 74-48 lead with 3:16 remaining.
The Crimson used the three-point line to keep them in the game, hitting 11- of-24 from beyond the arc for the game. Only six field goals for Harvard came from inside the three-point line.
The lady Gators shot 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the floor for the game and hit an impressive 89.5 percent 17-of-19) from the free throw line.
The Lady Gators found themselves trailing in a game for the first time this season, down 13-9 with 14:10 remaining in the first half after Harvard's Lindsay Ryba hit a three-pointer from the top of the key. Florida responded quickly, as Vanessa Hayden zipped off three straight points to spark a 12-1 swing as the Lady Gators retook the lead, 21-14. Ryba finally ended the run nailing another trey, but Hayden banked in a shot from the low block and Brandi McCain followed with a three-point play to extend UF's lead to nine, 26-17.
Foul trouble plagued the Lady Gators during the opening stanza, totaling 14 team fouls, as six players had at least two. The foul situation, in addition to three-point shooting, kept the game close, as the Crimson scored nine points from the free throw line and another 15 from beyond the arc.
Hayden led all scorers in the first half, contributing 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. McCain added 14 points, including 6-of-7 from the line.
