Brandi McCain (Silsbee, TX) scored 24 points leading No. 11 Florida to its program-record 11th Southeastern Conference win in a 74-62 victory over Alabama at Coleman Coliseum Sunday afternoon. The Lady Gators end the regular season with a 23-4 overall record and an 11-3 mark in SEC play.
With today's victory combined with No. 18 Vanderbilt's upset over No. 4 Georgia in Nashville this afternoon, Florida earned the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament. The Lady Gators enter the 12-team tournament with one of four first-round byes. Play begins on Thursday, March 1 at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tenn.
Florida survived a furious second-half rally from Alabama, as the Lady Gators watched their 27-point lead shrink to eight points with just over two minutes remaining. Florida's final 11 points came from the free throw line in the final 2:51 of the game.
"We have found interesting ways to get the job done all season and today was not exception," UF head coach Carol Ross said. "We gave a great effort to build a big lead in the first half. We needed every one of those points tonight."
Florida hit 15-of-19 free throws in the game, including 14-of-18 in the second half to secure the win. The Lady Gators shot 50 percent from the floor for the game, while Alabama hit 39.1 percent. Florida also won the rebounding battle, 39-29.
Naomi Mobley (Jacksonville, FL) tallied her 12th double-double of the season with a 14-point, 10 rebound effort. Monique Cardenas (Keystone Heights, FL) added 14 points in 40 minutes of action, while Tombi Bell (Miami, FL) tallied 14 points and nine rebounds in 40 minutes of play.
Florida took a 21-point (43-22) halftime lead and opened the second half with an 8-2 run, building a 51-24 advantage with 17:27 remaining in the game. But the Lady Gators got complacent and committed nine turnovers during a 20-4 Alabama run that cut UF's lead to 12 points (56-44) with 8:13 to go. Foul trouble began to accumulate for Florida and the Lady Gator post players took a beating.
Every time Florida scored, Alabama answered and remained within 12 points with 5:28 to go. Monique Cardenas gave the Lady Gators some breathing room with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Beth Vice came down the court and hit a trey for the Tide at the 4-minute mark. Sparkle Smith followed with a jumper and cut UF's lead to 10 points, 63-53, with 3:17 remaining. On UF's next offensive possession, Tombi Bell was fouled driving to the basket. Bell made the one of two free throws. Monique Cardenas was fouled on the defensive end, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Alabama came down and Sparkle Smith and drove to the basket, hit the shot and was fouled by UF's Vanessa Hayden. Smith completed the three-point play as Hayden fouled out with 2:17 remaining in the game and Alabama within eight points, 64-56. Tombi Bell then hit a pair of free throws for Florida, but Monisha Cartwell followed with a power jumper. Alabama was forced to foul and Bell hit another two free throws to lift UF's lead back to 11 with 1:08 to go.
The game opened as a three-point shooting contest, as seven of the game's first 11 field goals were three-pointers, with four of those coming from Brandi McCain. McCain's fourth trey gave Florida a 19-10 lead six minutes into the contest. UA's Joni Crenshaw then added a six-footer, before Monique Cardenas and Naomi Mobley started a devastating 17-3 run as Florida's lead grew to 21 points (36-15) with 5:17 remaining in the first half.
Alabama's Manisha Redus finally ended the Lady Gator spree with a three- pointer and Sparkle Smith followed with a short jumper to slip UF's lead down to 16 (36-20) with 3:38 to go in the half. After the teams traded baskets, Mobley added a 15-footer and Monique Cardenas completed a three- point play with 15 seconds remaining to give Florida the momentum and a 43- 22 lead entering the locker room.
McCain led all scorers in the first half with 16 points with three assists and three steals. Naomi Mobley also tallied 10 points in the first half, on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor. Alabama committed 14 turnovers that Florida turned into 19 points.
