Brandi McCain (Silsbee, TX) was named Most Valuable Player of the Dead River Company Classic as she led the University of Florida women's basketball team to an 87-41 victory over host Maine in the championship game played at Alfond Arena.
McCain scored a game-high 27 points with four assists and six steals against the Black Bears in the title game after scoring 19 points in Friday's win over Harvard. In the championship game, McCain shot 9-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-11 from the three-point.
Florida (4-0) used a dominating defensive performance to keep the 2,880 Black Bear fans in attendance at bay for the majority of the game. During the opening 20 minutes, Maine (2-1) shot a painful 15.8 percent from the field, hitting just 3-of-19 as the Lady Gators took a 39-18 halftime advantage.
Florida didn't let up in the second half, opening the period with a 9-2 run with seven coming from McCain en route to the win. The Black Bears shot just 28.3 percent for the game, while committing 26 turnovers.
"We really used our quickness to our advantage tonight against Maine," UF head coach
Carol Ross said. "We got a lot of deflections and frustrated Maine in its halfcourt offense. Overall we played extremely well and this is a great tournament title for us."
Junior
Monique Cardenas (Keystone Heights, FL) contributed a career- high 15 points for Florida, while
Naomi Mobley (Jacksonville, FL) added 13 with seven rebounds.
The All-Tournament team also included Florida's Cardenas, Mobley and
Tombi Bell (Miami, FL), in addition to Maine's Christy Grover and Central Michigan's Molli Munz.
Maine was led by Grover and Lacey Stone, who chipped in eight points each.
In the consolation game, Central Michigan defeated Harvard 69-52.
The Lady Gator victory marked the third consecutive year Maine lost its home tournament to a school from the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss claimed the 1998 crown, while Georgia took the 1999 title. Both of those games were decided in overtime.
The Lady Gators jumped out to a quick 16-2 lead with eight points from Monique Cardenas. Florida's smothering defense prevented Maine from hitting a field goal for the first seven minutes, when Julie Veilleux finally got the ball to fall for the Black Bears, hitting a deep jumper with exactly 13 minutes on the clock to bring the score to 16-4. Florida then hit a cold spell of its own, only scoring two points from the free throw line over the next four minutes, as the Black Bears reduced the lead to 16-7. Both teams continued trading points over the next two minutes.
Leading 23-11, Florida ripped off a 10-0 run over the following two and a half minutes to take a 33-14 advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the opening period. Maine went on a mini 7-2 run, but Tombi Bell scored the last four points of the half to give the Lady Gators a commanding 39-18 lead at the break.
In the first half, Maine managed just three field goals, shooting a woeful 15.8 percent (3-for-19). Florida's defense forced the Black Bears into committing 15 turnovers. On the other side of the floor, the Lady Gators turned the ball over just five times, while shooting 38.9 percent (14-of- 36).
The Lady Gators return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Morgantown, WV, where they battle the West Virginia Mountaineers beginning at 7 p.m.
