Tamia Williams' 23 points and Bernice Mosby's 17 point, nine-rebound effort propelled Florida to a 67-60 victory versus Auburn in front of a crowd of 3,842, the sixth largest in UF history, at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Sunday afternoon.
Tishona Gregory, who missed her first seven shots of the game, nailed her lone field goal, a clutch three-pointer, with 1:36 remaining in the game after Auburn's Natasha Brackett closed UF's lead to one point, 58-57. The Gator's then sealed their fifth consecutive victory by hitting 6-of-8 free throws in the final 39 seconds.
"My team continues to impress me and has shown a lot of character in every game that we've played," UF coach Carolyn Peck said. "We showed a lot of character, poise and confidence down the stretch tonight and I'm very proud of them. This was a good win for us."
Williams scored eight straight points during a one minute, 31 second span with under five minutes remaining when the lead changed hands three times. She first hit a driving acrobatic layup with 4:07 on the clock to give UF a 51-51 lead, but Louise Emeagi nailed a three-pointer on Auburn's ensuing possession to give the lead back to the Tigers. Williams canned back-to-back three-pointers, the first one with 3:25 remaining that brought the season-high crowd to its feet, to give the Gators a 55-54 advantage and the lead for good.
Williams finished with 22 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, while adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Mosby tallied 10 of her 17 points in the second half, while collecting a team-high nine rebounds. Dalila Eshe added eight points and eight boards for the Gators (11-4, 2-0 SEC).
Auburn (9-5, 0-1 SEC) was led by Louise Emeagi's 29 points and six rebounds. Natasha Brackett added 12 points with eight rebounds, while Marita Payne collected 12 boards and Tiffany Presley 10.
UF fell behind in the second half after an 11-0 Auburn (9-5, 0-1) run put the Tigers up by six with 7:40 remaining.
Junior Brittany Davis' free throw with 11:35 remaining in the game broke Auburn's run and was followed by four Mosby points to cut the Auburn lead to one.
Auburn went on to score five unanswered to extend its lead to six points, before the Gators gradually worked their way back into the game to set up Williams' three-pointers.
"I thought we played well enough to win, but I felt we fouled too much in the second half," Fortner said. "We sent Florida to the free throw line too many times, and that's the difference in the ball game."
Early in the game, UF appeared to be in cruise control after senior Tishona Gregory made two free throws to give the Gators a 20-12 lead at the 10:10 mark of the first half. It was then, however, that Emeagi went on to score 10 of Auburn's next 12 points and at one point get the game tied at 22.
Despite Emeagi's effort, who scored 14 of her team's final 19 points in the first half, the Gators managed to go into halftime with a 29-27 lead.
The Gators were able to capitalize off 14 Auburn turnovers, scoring 17 points off the miscues in comparison to Auburn's five points off four turnovers.
UF received key contributions from junior Dalila Eshe who notched eight rebounds, and from senior Tishona Gregory's team-highs in assists and steals, with four and three, respectively. The Gators also shot considerably better from the field in the second half, notching a 47.8 percent mark in comparison to a 32.3 percent mark from the first half. UF held the Tigers to 36.7 percent shooting from the field. In 10 of the Gators' 11 wins this season, the defense has held its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the field.
The Gators next play host to top-ranked LSU on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
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