The University of Florida women's basketball couldn't overcome foul trouble and poor shooting en route to an 83-63 loss to Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum in the regular season finale for both teams.
The loss puts the Lady Gator's overall record at 18-9, including an 8-6 mark in the SEC, while MSU improves to 18-10, 8-6 in the league. UF ends the regular season tied for fourth place in the SEC with the Lady Bulldogs and LSU.
Next up is the SEC Tournament, which begins Thursday, Feb. 28 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn. Florida will be the No. 6 seed in the 12-team tournament and play Auburn in the first round on Thursday at 9:15 p.m. ET.
MSU's LaToya Thomas scored a game-high 40 points, hitting 12-of-12 from the free throw line, in addition to grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Thomas' scoring outburst was the third-highest individual total ever scored against UF, and the most since Kentucky's Valerie Still netted 41 back on Feb. 20, 1982.
Jennifer Fambrough was the only other player for MSU who scored double-figures, adding 18.
Brandi McCain scored a team-high 23 for UF, while Vanessa Hayden added 19.
Hayden scored 10 points during the Lady Gator's 15-2 run to open the second half and cut a 17-point halftime deficit to four points, 47-43, with just over 14 minutes remaining in the game. But Hayden was whistled for her fourth personal foul with 13:35 to go and went to the bench, where she joined Courtney Cooper – UF's second leading rebounder, who had already collected her fourth personal. MSU took advantage and went on a devastating 14-0 run to build its lead back to double-figures, 61-43, over the next five minutes.
"We lost this game in the first half when our bench was nowhere to be found," UF head coach Carol Ross said. "When we got into foul trouble, our level of play decreased tremendously."
"I loved our fight in the second half," Ross said. "We got within four and then had to make substitutions due to foul trouble. That's when the wheels came off again. They didn't have an answer for Vanessa Hayden and that was the difference when things were going positively for us."
Hayden checked back in at the 9:37 mark, but not before Florida trailed by 16. She picked up her fifth foul one minute and 29 seconds later. That was the 19th foul called against UF, compared to the eight whistled against the home team.
Florida was whistled for 23 fouls during the game, while committing 18 turnovers in the loss. The Lady Gators were outrebounded 45-37 in the game, while shooting just 35.3 percent from the floor during the game. UF shot 9-of-14 from the free throw line, while MSU netted 19-of-25. Eight of UF's 14 attempts came during the final eight minutes of the game.
"For whatever reason we couldn't get to the free throw line, where they were terrific," Ross said.
MSU ripped out of the starting gate to take a quick 12-2 lead behind a pair of 3-pointers and scoring from four different players. Brandi McCain stopped the 10-0 spree with a long jumper and a 3-pointer. Rebecca Kates answered with a 3-pointer, but McCain countered with another trey and Vanessa Hayden added a short jumper in the lane to bring UF within three, 15-12, with 13:35 remaining in the half. LaToya Thomas then scored four straight points in a Lady Bulldog 7-2 run to build their lead back to eight points, 22-17, with 10:17 left in the period. McCain added her third trey of the half to cut into MSU's lead. Thomas added a nifty scooping layup, but Tara Taylor answered for UF with a driving layup. Taylor's points were the first by a Lady Gator other than McCain or Hayden, and it came at the 8:32 mark of the half, as UF closed the score to 24-19.
MSU pushed its lead back to 10 points and Florida brought it back to five after Hayden's three-point play made the score 33-28 with 4:24 remaining. But those were the last points Florida would score in the first half, as MSU closed on a 12-0 run thanks to eight points from the free throw line, to take a 45-28 lead into the lockerroom.
McCain and Hayden scored 24 of UF's 28 points, with McCain tallying 15. Thomas did most of the damage for MSU, scoring 21 points.
During the opening 20 minutes, MSU outscored UF 13-1 from the free throw line, shooting 13-of-15 at the charity stripe. The Lady Bulldogs also outrebounded the Lady Gators 18-to-20, while shooting 51.9 percent (14-27) from the floor. UF shot 34.3 percent (12-35) from the field and committed 12 turnovers.
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