The University of Florida women's basketball team (6-4) nearly staged the largest comeback in program history, but fell just short losing to Oregon State 49-48 at Gill Coliseum.
The Gators missed their first 21 shots of the game, quickly falling behind by 22 points. Florida trimmed the significant deficit to 11 by halftime, 25-14, and managed to get within six points, 27-21, after opening the second half on a 7-2 run as Tamia Williams nailed a three-pointer. But Mandy Close answered with a trey on OSU's next possession to extend the deficit back to nine points with 17:15 remaining in the game. The teams continued to trade baskets for the next eight minutes until Williams canned back-to-back three-pointers igniting a 12-0 spree that tied the game at 42-all with 6:44 left in the contest.
Tishona Gregory then dropped an improbable floating 6-footer to give UF its first lead of the game, 46-44, with 4:18 on the clock. But OSU's Jessica Jones nailed a three-pointer from the left corner that put the Beavers back on top with 3:53 remaining and the Gators went cold from the floor. Hollye Chapman then added a bucket to extend OSU's to three, 49-46, with 2:10 remaining. Neither team could score for the next minute until Williams put back an offensive rebound with 1:03 left. Each team missed on its next possession and Florida had a chance to go for the win, but Sarah Lowe's pull-up jumper with 11 seconds remaining bounced off the front of the rim and OSU (5-2) collected the miss and held on for the one-point win.
Williams and Bernice Mosby led UF with 17 points each, as Mosby also collected 14 rebounds. The Gators shot 57.9 percent in the second half, but made just 15.2 percent in the opening period, finishing with a 30.8 percent mark for the game. The key, however, was rebounding, as OSU won the battle of the boards 45-38, including 20 on the offensive end.
UF missed its first 21 shots of the game, facing a quick 19-0 deficit as the Beavers converted seven of their first 11 shots. The majority of the Gator's initial attempts came from within the paint, but the ball just wouldn't fall as 6-foot-5 Brina Chaney patrolled the inside game. Florida finally got on the scoreboard when Tishona Gregory hit one free throw with 8:48 remaining in the half, to make the score 19-1. After two more OSU field goals, Brittany Davis made one from the charity stripe with 5:50 left in the half, with the score at 23-2.
Bernice Mosby hit UF's first field goal with 4:48 remaining in the opening half, as OSU built a commanding 23-3. Mosby then hit a fall-away jumper as part of the Gator's 11-0 run that cut the 22-point deficit to 11, with 1:42 left in the period. Brina Chaney put back a miss for the Beavers before Mosby added a pair of free throws with 29 seconds remaining to end the half's scoring with Florida trailing 25-14.
During the game-opening drought from the floor that lasted 10:22, UF missed all of its first 21 shots from the field, four of its first six free throw attempts, committed eight turnovers and was outrebounded 20-13.
Overall during the first half, Florida shot a dismal 15.2 percent from the floor, hitting just 5-of-33. OSU made 34.3 percent (12-35) of its shots during the half. Each team committed nine turnovers and the rebounding was even at 26-all.
UF's inside game took an early hit in the game, as starting freshman center Dalila Eshe left the game with a broken nose just 1:11 into the game. She returned to the floor wearing a plastic mask with 5:14 left in the half and UF trailing 23-1. The Gators already are without the services of 6-4 All-American Vanessa Hayden, who broke her left fibula on December 7.
Tonight's game concludes Florida's travel-hectic schedule, which has taken the Gators on the road for six of their last seven games, flying 10,462 miles since Nov. 29. Florida doesn't play again until December 28th, when the team hosts the two-day State Farm Classic. Michigan faces Virginia in game 1 of the tournament at 5 p.m., with the Gators entertaining Massachusetts (8-1) in the O'Connell Center at 7:30 p.m.
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