Florida Gators
Oakland
Women's Hoops Defeats Oakland 76-72
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 | Women's Basketball
University of Florida sophomores Bernice Mosby, Sarah Lowe and Danielle Santos carried the Gators down the stretch in a hard-fought 76-72 victory over Oakland at the Athletics Center 'O'rena.
Mosby scored a game-high 21 points with nine rebounds in the victory, but her two free throws with 33.3 seconds to give UF (5-1) a 72-69 lead. Lowe recorded six of her eight points in the final 59 seconds of the game, including a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line that sealed the win. Santos added seven of her 17 points in the final four minutes, hitting a multitude of outside jumpers during the stretch.
The Golden Grizzlies (3-3) held a 59-56 lead with 6:40 remaining after a 9-0 run that erased a UF's 15-point first half lead. Tashia Morehead, who finished with 10 points, ended the Gator drought and tied the score with a 3-pointer from the left side, but Anne Hafeli retaliated with back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Grizzlies a 65-59 lead with 3:37 remaining.
Santos hit a trey and followed that with 15-footer to bring the Gators within one, 65-64, but Petra Manakova answered with a short jumper to end the run. However, Morehead snatched a one-handed offensive rebound and put it back up and Santos followed with another jumper as the Gators retook the lead, 68-67. Jayme Wilson added two free throws for OU, before Lowe hit her first field goal of the game to give UF a 70-69 lead with 59 seconds remaining. The Grizzlies had a chance to take the lead on their next possession, but missed, however they did grab the offensive rebound. While setting up for their next shot, the Gators came up with a steal. OU fouled Mosby on an in-bounds play and she made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 33.3 seconds to give UF a 72-69 lead. Manakova answered for OU, but Lowe nailed a pair of free throws with 16 second left to keep the difference at three points, 74-71. However, OU wasn't ready to concede the game, as Nicole Piggot hit one free throw with six seconds remaining. She purposely missed the second and the Grizzlies actually grabbed the miss, but the Grizzlies called a timeout they didn't have sending Lowe back to the free throw line, where she converted both technical free throws to end the game's scoring.
Florida held a 37-32 lead, but came out of halftime flat and Oakland's Jayme Wilson took advantage by scoring eight straight points after the Gators began the period with one free throw. Wilson's 3-pointer with 17:29 gave the Grizzlies their first lead of the game, 40-38, but Bernice Mosby answered with a two-footer off an in-bounds play to tie the score. Tashia Morehead immediately came up with a steal and made two free throws after being fouled driving for a layup. Mosby followed with a tough fade-away jumper to give UF a 44-40 lead with 16 minutes remaining. After Nicole Piggott hit a jumper for OU, Danielle Santos tallied the next four points in the game, as the Gators held a 48-42 advantage at the 14:45 mark.
The teams traded baskets for the next six-plus minutes, during when Vanessa Hayden collected her fourth personal foul with 12:38 on the clock and UF leading 52-46, but the teams did continue to exchange field goals until OU's Anne Hafeli ended the back-and-fourth scoring with a 3- pointer from the left corner that was part of a 9-0 run that gave the Grizzlies a 59-56 lead with 6:40 remaining.
Florida sprinted out to a quick 9-0 lead, with Tishona Gregory providing five points to the delight of her hometown fans in attendance. Oakland finally got on the board and traded baskets with the Gators for the next few minutes until Bernice Mosby scored six points during a 10-2 spree that pushed UF's lead to 14 points, 24-10, with 11:29 left in the opening period.
The teams again traded buckets and Tashia Morehead's 3-pointer from the right side gave the Gators a 29-14 cushion with 9:50 on the clock. But the Golden Grizzlies rallied from that moment on during the half, ending the period on a 18-8 run to close the gap to five points, 37-32, at halftime. During that span, UF committed six turnovers and shot just 2-for-13 from the field and 2-for-7 from the free throw line.
Vanessa Hayden, UF's leading scorer and rebounder, was whistled for her second foul at the 12:50 mark of the first half and went to the bench after scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds in six minutes of action. She re-entered the game with just over two minutes remaining, but collected her third foul seconds later. Unfortunately for the Gators, Hayden wasn't the only player in foul trouble because Morehead, UF's third- leading scorer, also collected three during the first 20 minutes.
UF shot 42.9 percent (15-35) from the floor and outrebounded the Golden Grizzlies 27-15 during the first half, but committed 11 turnovers. Mosby netted a team-high 11 points and eight rebounds, as seven different Gators got on the scoreboard.
The Gators next conclude their season-opening seven-game road trip on Friday, December 12, when the team travels to Coral Gables and plays Miami at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center. The audio play-by-play of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on Rock 104, as well as through the internet at www.GatorZone.com.
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