Shooting woes plagued Florida in Sunday's 79-40 loss to No. 3 Tennessee (20-3, 9-0 SEC), as the Gators shot a painful 21.3 percent from the floor during the contest that extended the team's program-record losing streak to nine games.
Florida (8-13, 0-8 SEC) opened the second half committing seven straight turnovers and Tennessee took advantage with a 16-0 run to explode a 17-point halftime lead into a 33-point spread in front of 16,629 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday afternoon. Florida will try and end the skid on Thursday, Feb. 13, when the Gators play host to Auburn in the O'Connell Center beginning at 7 p.m.
Brittany Davis led the Gators with 10 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the floor, while grabbing six rebounds. Gwen Jackson netted a game-high 18 points for UT, while Kara Lawson tallied 13 points with a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Gators committed 12 of their 23 turnovers in the second half, when the shot 23.1 percent (6-26) from the floor, an improvement from the 20.0 percent (7-35) mark the squad managed in the first half.
"As a whole I was proud of our defensive effort, but we just can't seem to get the ball in the basket," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "Last time Tennessee scored 95 points against us on our home court. Tonight they scored 79 on theirs. It's an improvement that I see our team making every time we step onto the court. We just need to be able to put things together."
Tennessee opened the second half with a decisive 16-0 run to take a 54-21 lead and put the game away with just over 15 minutes remaining. Bernice Mosby hit one free throw with 14:19 left to score UF's first point of the second half. Vanessa Hayden netted the Gators first field goal of the second half with 12:59 left in the contest, as Florida trailed 54-24.
Kara Lawson got the Lady Vols on the board with a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the game. Gwen Jackson followed with a short put-back and Tennessee assumed a quick 5-0 lead. But Florida didn't fold, as Vanessa Hayden got the Gators on the board with a 6-footer. Sarah Lowe then drove to the basket, was fouled and capitalized by making a pair of free throws to get Florida within one, 5-4.
But Tennessee ripped off a 13-0 run with scoring from four different players to distance themselves 18-4 with 12:36 remaining in the opening half. The Gators hurt themselves during their scoring drought, committing seven turnovers during the run. Brittany Davis finally ended the spree with an offensive put-back at the 12:18 mark. That was one of just two field goals UF managed during the first 10 minutes of the game.
The teams exchanged two-point possessions before Ashley Robinson crashed the offensive boards and put-back a missed attempt and completed the three-point play after being fouled. Florida refused to fold, as Davis followed with a pair of jumpers and Dalila Eshe hit one free throw to bring the deficit to 12 points, 25-13, with 6:16 remaining.
Florida held Tennessee without a field goal for a five-minute stretch midway through the first half, but the Lady Vols did manage to collect three points from the charity stripe during that cold spell from the floor. However, those three free throws began a 8-0 run for UT, that included six points from the charity stripe, as the Lady Vols built a 33-13 advantage with just under three minutes remaining.
But again the Gators fought back, as Kelly Stevenson found Davis for a give-and-go that resulted in a layup. That bucket sparked a mini 8-5 run, which included a pair of 3-pointers from Sarah Lowe, to end the first half with the Gators trailing 38-21.
Davis and Lowe each scored eight points in the opening period, when Florida shot a painful 20 percent (7-35) from the floor and committed 11 turnovers. The Gators did hold a 27-25 rebounding advantage over a Tennessee team that entered the game as the SEC's top rebounding squad. The Lady Vols shot 41.9 percent (13-31) from the floor in the first half, and hit 10-of-16 free throws. UF converted 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
With her first basket of the game, Vanessa Hayden reached the 900-point plateau for her career. Also during the contest, Florida started its 11th different lineup of the season, as Hayden joined Dalila Eshe, Bernice Mosby, Sarah Lowe and Danielle Santos on court for the opening tip.
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