Despite a game-high 23 points from All-American center Vanessa Hayden, the No. 20-ranked University of Florida women's basketball team couldn't overcome costly turnovers and a sub-par shooting night in a 88-76 loss to Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum.
The loss snapped a season-high five game win streak for the Gators (16-6, 6-3 SEC), who next play host to No. 16 LSU on Sunday, February 15 in O'Connell Center beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
Tashia Morehead recorded her third double-double of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds, helping the Gators to a 50-33 rebounding advantage that included 25 offensive boards over the Bulldogs, who won their fourth consecutive game in the series. Danielle Santos also tallied 11 points for UF, which committed 17 turnovers that MSU converted into 20 points. The Gators shot 41.7 percent (31-77) from the floor during the game, but struggled from the three-point line where they hit just 23.5 percent (4-17).
Tan White scored a team-high 22 points for MSU (10-12, 4-5 SEC), which shot 47.2 percent (32-63) in the game, including a 55.6 percent (15-27) effort in the decisive second half. Tiania Burns tallied 21 points, while Mamie McKinney added 16 points and Rebecca Kates 15.
"You have to credit Mississippi State, this was the best game I've seen them play this season," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "For us, there was a hesitation and we didn't play with as much confidence. We had a lot of defensive breakdowns and allowed a lot of back door cuts. Tan White was suppose to get her points, but we made some bad decisions on rotations, we left Kates open, we let McKinney drive to the basket. We knew all of these things were going to happen. Unfortunately, I saw this coming because we did not look good in practice this week or in shoot-around today. The things we did today were things we had not seen us do all season and that's disappointing."
UF cut a five-point half-time deficit to one, 41-40, during the opening moments of the second half after Tashia Morehead and Danielle Santos put back offensive rebounds. But MSU scored the next two baskets with sharp outside shooting and prevented the Gators from taking the lead. The teams then traded scores over the next two-plus minutes before the Bulldogs converted on three consecutive trips en route to a 11-2 run and a 58-47 MSU lead with 13:10 remaining in the game.
The Gators then got one free throw and an outside jumper from Morehead to cut the deficit to eight, 58-50, but Rebecca Kates canned her third trey to extinguish a lengthy UF run. Bernice Mosby answered for the Gators with a jumper in the paint and Hayden followed with a power move inside to cut MSU's lead to seven, 61-54, with 10:10 remaining. But again Kates nailed a three-pointer to keep the Gators at a distance.
The teams then traded baskets for the next two minutes before Tan White scored the next five points and gave the Bulldogs a 71-58 lead with 6:40 remaining in the game and the Gators would never recover.
The game opened at a furious pace, with both teams connecting on over 50 percent of their attempts during the first seven minutes. Florida struck first when Danielle Santos and Tashia Morehead netted three-pointers that gave the Gators a 6-2 lead. But UF got sloppy with its passes which the Bulldogs converted into layups and helped fuel a 6-0 run. The Gators settled down and produced a 6-0 run of their own, thanks to some tough offensive put-backs by Vanessa Hayden that gave UF a 12-8 lead. Again, MSU countered with a 6-0 run after back-to-back three-pointers to retake the lead. But Morehead pulled down an offensive board and put it right back up, shortly before Hayden hit a 12-footer that gave UF a 16-14 advantage.
The scoring runs continued to trade sides, as Tan White nailed a deep 3-point that lifted the Bulldogs into the lead. Following one free throw my MSU, Hayden scored three points and Tara Taylor canned a trey during UF's ensuing 8-2 spree that gave the Gators a 21-18 lead with 8:40 remaining in the half. However, the Bulldogs rallied with a 12-4 scoring run to take a 32-28 lead with 4:36 left in the period.
UF refused to allow the Bulldogs to pull away and used a 6-0 run to re-take a two point lead, 34-32, with 3:15 on the clock. But the Gators were sloppy with the ball during the final minutes of the half and allowed the Bulldogs to score the next seven points en route to a 41-36 halftime advantage. It was the fourth time UF trailed at the half this season and all three previous occurrences resulted in a loss.
Hayden led the Gators with 13 points in the first half that featured nine lead changes and eight tied scores. Hayden also collected six rebounds, helping UF to a 26-16 rebounding advantage. But Gators also committed seven costly turnovers that MSU converted into 10 points.
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