The young Gators succumbed to Arkansas' intense full-court pressure, committing 23 turnovers en route to a 84-45 loss to the 10th-ranked Lady Razorbacks (15-2, 2-0 SEC) in front of 2,128 at Bud Walton Arena.
Florida (8-7) dropped its third consecutive SEC game, opening league play 0-3 for the first time since the 1987-88 season. The Gators will try to get back on the winning track this Sunday, January 19, returning to the O'Connell Center to play host to fifth-ranked Tennessee, which leads the all-time series 30-1. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Arkansas, which recorded its largest margin of victory ever against an SEC opponent, scored 30 points off of UF's 23 turnovers, while shooting a consistent 53.1 percent (34-67) from the floor. The Lady Razorbacks also outrebounded UF 46-33. The Gators shot just 28.3 percent (17-60) from the floor, including a 21.9 percent effort in the second half, marking the fifth time in the last six games UF has made less than 40 percent of its attempts.
"There is a reason Arkansas is ranked tenth in the country," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. They are loaded at every position. I thought our defense was pretty good, but we didn't box out. We gave up 21 offensive rebounds and that can't happen if you expect to win."
Tishona Gregory was the only Gator who scored in double-figures, netting 11 in the loss.
Shameka Christon, India Lewis and Ruby Vaden each scored 14 points to lead a balanced Arkansas attack.
Arkansas scored the last five points of the first half and opened the second half on a 12-3 run to explode a 19-point halftime lead into a 54-26 advantage to blow the game open. Florida's undoing came in the first half, when the Gators committed 15 turnovers and were held scoreless for an eight-minute span midway through the period after trailing just 16-15.
Arkansas used a 21-8 run in the final 13 minutes of the first half to take a commanding 42-23 halftime lead. Florida committed 15 turnovers - nine of those unforced - in the opening 20 minutes, resulting in 18 points for the Lady Razorbacks. UA shot 53.1 percent (17-32) in the first half, while the Gators managed just 35.7 percent (10-28) from the floor.
Florida matched Arkansas shot for shot in the opening four minutes of the game. But that's when things began to unravel for the visiting team. The Gators had trouble inbounding the ball and Lakishia Harper came up with the steal and went coast to coast for the layup. Arkansas then forced a turnover with its smothering fullcourt press and India Lewis connected on a long jumper to give the Lady Backs a four-point lead. The teams again traded baskets for over the next two minutes before UF's Bernice Mosby converted a three-point play to pull the Gators within one, 16-15.
But Arkansas' press forced two more UF turnovers on consecutive trips and Shameka Christon and Dana Cherry made the Gators pay with two buckets and build a 20-15 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining in the half.
Neither team could score for the next four-plus minutes until UF committed its 10th miscue of the half and watched UA's Lewis dribble the length of the court for another layup. Unfortunately, for the Gators, that patterned continued as Arkansas scored 13 straight points and held UF scoreless for an eight-minute span to build a 29-15 lead. Tamia Williams finally ended the Gator's scoring drought with a 3-pointer from the right side of the arc, but Arkansas answered with a 7-0 run. Dalila Eshe and Courtney Cooper helped UF with a short-lived 5-1 run, but Arkansas netted the last five points of the half to take a 42-24 halftime lead.
END OF REPORT
