University of Florida All-American Vanessa Hayden racked up her 10th double-double of the year and 43rd of her career, leading the Gators to a huge 67-61 conference victory over 22nd ranked (ESPN/USA Today Poll) Vanderbilt in front of 3,303 fans, the ninth largest crowd in school history. Hayden had 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 11 rebounds and seven blocks to log her fifth consecutive double-double.
"I think she's probably the best post player in the country," Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb said of Hayden.
The Gators (11-4 overall, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) played relentless defense, forcing 24 Vanderbilt (13-2, 1-1) turnovers and holding the Commodores to their second-lowest point total of the season. Tishona Gregory led the defensive effort with a career-high seven steals. Danielle Santos also added three steals, while Hayden, Tashia Morehead and Sarah Lowe swiped two each to tally a total of 18.
"That's one of the things we worked on -- having great defense," Florida head coach Carolyn Peck said. "I could see it in their eyes when we were in the locker room before the game that they were ready to play great defense because their focus and concentration was there."
Morehead scored 17 points and Bernice Mosby had 11 for the Gators.
Abi Ramsey led the Commodores with 20 points, going 6-of-10 from behind the arc.
Florida jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage and led 20-14 with 7:50 to play in the first half. Vanderbilt then went on a 12-2 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes, surging on top 26-22. Hayden snapped the Vanderbilt rally with a two-foot hook shot with 3:48 on the clock, beginning a 9-2 Gators run to close out the first half with a 31-28 lead.
The Gators opened the second half the same way they played throughout the first period, with great defense. They held Vanderbilt to just six points in the first seven-and-a-half minutes out of the locker room. Then Vanderbilt's offense heated up quickly, going on a 10-3 run over the next two minutes to take back the lead 44-41.
Florida answered Vanderbilt's run with a 10-0 run of its own, taking back the lead for good.
"We did a great job bouncing back from the Ole Miss game," Peck said. "We returned home and regained our focus and did a tremendous job as a team."
The Gators travel to Baton Rouge, La., to take on the 17th-ranked LSU Tigers on Thursday at 8 p.m. Their next home game is Jan. 22 against South Carolina with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
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