Seniors Brandi McCain and Monqiue Cardenas combined for 33 points to lead the 18th-ranked University of Florida women's basketball team to a 62-51 upset victory over No. 6 Vanderbilt Thursday evening at Memorial Gym in front of 4,318. The win improved the Lady Gators overall record to 14-5 and 4-2 in the SEC, while the Commodores fell to 18-4, 4-2 in the SEC.
"We had some rough spots during the game, but we didn't panic and we fought back," UF head coach Carol Ross said. "Every team in the SEC is going to make runs during a game, we just weathered Vanderbilt's tonight. I thought every player stepped up tonight and did an excellent job. This was a team win and everyone should be please with their play tonight."
Vanessa Hayden scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, despite being hampered with foul trouble the entire game.
Vanderbilt's Chantelle Anderson scored a game-high 21 points in the loss, while Zuzi Klimesova added 11 with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Florida, which entered the game 3-11 all-time in Nashville, won for the first time in Memorial Gym since Feb. 1, 1998.
"This is such a tough place to play," Ross said. "A lot of that has to do with the great players who play here. Tonight we were great defensively. I thought we did some things that forced Vanderbilt to do some things individual players may not have been as comfortable doing. This was a great win against a great team and I'm extremely proud of our team's effort."
Vanderbilt shot a season-low 39.2 percent from the floor during the game, including a 25.0 percent effort in the second half. Florida shot 36.5 percent during the game, while outrebounding the significantly taller Commodores 38-35.
The victory was the Lady Gator's third over a ranked team this season.
Vanderbilt, which led 31-30 at halftime, hit the first two shots of the second half to take a quick five-point lead early, 35-30. But Monique Cardenas answered for Florida with a pair of off-balanced jumpers to bring the Lady Gators back within one, 35-34, with 14:35 remaining in the game to spark an 18-2 run. VU's Chantelle Anderson had the lone Commodore basket during the run, hitting an 8-footer after Cardenas' second bucket. That's when Florida scored 14 unanswered points over nearly a 10-minute span to take a 48-37 lead.
Zuzi Klimesova finally ended Vanderbilt's drought by hitting a 15-footer with 7:39 remaining. Vanessa Hayden then went on a personal 6-2 run to extend Florida's lead to 13, 54-41, with 4:52 remaining in the game. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the game, as Florida hit clutch shots, took care of the basketball and closed out the victory.
Tamia Williams then collected a tipped defensive rebound from Courtney Cooper and ran the length of the floor, converted the layup, was fouled and made the free throw to give Florida its first lead since the opening basket of the game, 38-37, with 12:10 remaining in the game. Williams then continued by hitting a 3-pointer from the left side.
Florida did an excellent job rebounding on the offensive end in the first half, snaring seven and converting them into 11 points. The Lady Gators limited Vanderbilt, which shot 56.5% in the first half, to only two offensive boards during the opening 20 minutes of play. Chantelle Anderson, Vanderbilt's 6-foot-6 center, exploited Florida's lack of height by scoring 13 first half points at will. The Lady Gators shot 36.4% in the first half, with Brandi McCain leading the way in scoring with 11 points. McCain's third 3-pointer of the evening was the 200th of her career.
Vanessa Hayden picked up her second personal foul with 15:20 remaining in the first half and went to the bench for the rest of the half, as Florida trailed 7-4. The Lady Gators didn't wilt with their leading scoring and rebounder out of the game. Brandi McCain hit a 3-pointer on UF's next possession and then Monique Cardenas followed with a running jumper to give the Lady Gators a 9-7 lead with 12:42 remaining. UF did a good job rebounding the basketball during that short span, limiting Vanderbilt to one shot on its next three possessions.
Chantelle Anderson was successful on the Commodores next two possessions, hitting back-to-back 2-footers to give VU an 11-9 lead. The teams traded buckets until Anderson and Zuzi Klimesova hit on consecutive trips to lift the Commodores to a four-point advantage (17-13) with just under seven minutes remaining. Cardenas stopped the mini VU run by hitting a pair of free throws, but Jenni Benningfield answered for Vandy with a 3-pointer to put VU up 20-15. Florida went on a 6-2 run to close within one (22-21), but Anderson again countered with a short layup and completed the three-point play, before hitting another short shot seconds later. VU's Juli Colli then stole a UF pass and ran the floor for a layup to give the Commodores a 29-21 lead with 1:30 left in the opening period.
Brandi McCain finally stopped the run and hit deep 3-pointers on consecutive trips to bring UF within two (29-27). Candice Storey answered for VU, but Sherisha Hills countered by putting back a missed shot a converting the ensuing free throw to the half's scoring with Florida trailing by 31-30.
The Lady Gators continue their four-game stretch against ranked opponents on Sunday, Jan. 27, when Florida plays host to No. 17/16 Georgia in the O'Connell Center. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. and will be televised live nationally on ESPN.
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