A 21-point, and career-high 20-rebound effort by center Vanessa Hayden helped ensure a win for Florida's seniors in their final regular season home game at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center as the Gators defeated Arkansas 64-58 in front of 2,327 fans.
Florida improves to 18-8, 8-5 in Southeastern Conference play while Arkansas drops to 16-10, 6-7 SEC. Guard Brandi McCain chipped in 15 points and six assists, and forward Courtney Cooper had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Prior to the game, Florida seniors Brandi McCain, Monique Cardenas and Lindsey DeLoach were individually honored at half court with framed jerseys.
"It turned into a backyard brawl out there, and that is the way we needed it," Florida coach Carol Ross said following the win. "The prettier the game, the more it favors Arkansas. It was just effort tonight, and nobody was going to out-hustle us."
Arkansas was led by a game-high 25 points from guard Dana Cherry and Shameka Christon's 12-point effort.
"They were able to stay in their man because we were missing the shots that we needed," Arkansas coach Gary Blair said. "McCain hit the free throws down the stretch when we were trying to foul someone else, and I give them credit."
The Gators fell behind early in the second half, 35-34, but went on a 11-0 run lasting 7:38 minutes. A Dana Cherry jumper at the 10:14 mark of the second half ended the run and left Florida with a 45-37 lead.
After a three-point shot by Tara Taylor gave Florida an 11-point lead, their largest of the game, with 9:10 remaining, Arkansas slowly chipped away at their deficit.
A Cherry three-pointer cut Florida's lead to 57-54 with 1:37 remaining, but Hayden scored Florida's next three points to stretch Florida's lead to 60-55.
McCain went four-of-four from the free throw line in the final thirty seconds to preserve the Florida victory.
Hayden's previous game-high rebound total had been 18 points against Auburn on Jan. 6th. The center grabbed her 10th rebound against Arkansas only 10 minutes into the game and had 11 rebounds in the first half while playing only 13 minutes.
"I'm not surprised because we had a tough week in practice," Hayden said. "Coach emphasized rebounding the whole week in practice basically."
Hayden led a tenacious Florida rebounding effort as the Gators out-rebounded Arkansas 62-44. Florida held Arkansas without an offensive rebound until nearly the halfway point of the second half.
"I didn't think Arkansas had an offensive rebound in the first half, and they are the best offensive rebounding team in our conference," Ross said.
Arkansas began the night on fire, connecting on seven of their first nine shots to take a 17-11 lead at the 13:54 mark of the first half. During the Razorbacks initial surge, Florida trailed by as many as nine points during that stretch for their largest deficit of the game.
An 11-2 run brought Florida back into the game and gave Florida their first lead of the game, 25-24, at the 4:25 mark of the first half. Hayden scored six points in that stretch.
Cardenas provided the Gators with her usual work ethic, and the forward scored seven points in her final regular season home game. Cardenas took a crucial charge before Florida took its first lead of the game late in the first half.
The Gators' win avenges a 78-69 upset loss to Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the 2001 SEC Tournament.
Florida returns to action Sunday, February 24, as they travel to Starkville, Miss. to play Mississippi State. The game will mark the end of Florida's regular season schedule. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. ET.
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