University of Florida sophomore Bernice Mosby scored 14 of her team-high 19 points in the second half during the Gator's 69-59 upset victory over No. 19 Georgia Thursday evening in the O'Connell Center.
The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Florida, which improved to 17-9 overall and 7-6 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Lady Bulldogs fell to 18-8 and 7-6 in league action.
“Bernice came in, stepped up and played with a lot of energy,” UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. “I think our back court defense was outstanding and Bernice was a big part of that. She came out focused and took shots that flowed with our offense.”
UF senior All-American Vanessa Hayden, who was playing in the final home game of her career, contributed 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting, in addition to grabbing a game-high nine rebounds with three blocks. Danielle Santos added 14 points with eight rebounds for the Gators, who play at No. 18 Auburn on Sunday in the team's regular season finale.
The Gators have won eight more games than they did all of last season, when they finished 9-19. The eight-game swing is tied for the greatest turn-around in program history. Tonight's victory also completed UF's two-game sweep over Georgia, marking just the second time the Gators have won two against their SEC rival in the same season and the first time since the 1978-79 season.
“From where we started last year, the hard work we have put in this year has been the key in our success,” Peck said. “We're not patting ourselves on the back because we are by no means satisfied. We have had some good times and some bad times, but we have stuck together as a team. Tonight was a total team effort. If somebody had a basket, somebody else had to pass it to them. For us to do well, it has to be a team effort.”
Santos' free throw with 14:20 remaining game the Gators a 37-36 lead, their first of the game. Sherill Baker answered with one from the charity stripe to tie the game for the fifth time, before Mosby nailed a three-pointer from the top of the arc to give UF the advantage. However, Jessica Pierce canned a trey on Georgia's next possession and the game was tied again with 12:50 on the clock.
The teams then traded missed attempts before Santos hit a driving layup and Tashia Morehead then followed with a trey from the left side that gave the Gators a 45-40 lead with 11:26 remaining. Georgia responded with a layup from Ebony Felder and a short jumper from Christi Thomas, as the Lady Bulldogs closed within one, 47-46, with 8:24 remaining.
But Mosby rallied and scored the next six points of the game, giving UF a 53-46 advantage with 6:14 left. Georgia refused to fold and whittled the deficit to two points, 54-52, with 4:50 remaining, but the Gators were steady from the free throw line down the stretch, hitting 9-of-12 to secure the victory.
Georgia actually outscored UF from the floor by two points, but the Gators capitalized from the free throw line, where they were 17-of-24 while the visiting Bulldogs were just 5-of-6.
Georgia's Christi Thomas led all scorers with 20 points, while Cori Chambers added 10.
