Bernice Mosby scored a game-high 25 points, including the 1,000th of her career, but it wasn't enough for Florida to upset No. 19 Georgia, as the Gators fell 81-61 Thursday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.
Florida (12-7, 3-3 SEC) was within five points, 54-49, with 8:19 remaining in the game before Georgia (13-5, 5-2) finished on a 27-12 run to end the game an collect its eighth consecutive home victory.
"The first half we did some very good things," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "Defensively, we were making it extremely difficult for Tasha Humphrey to get the ball inside. We really concentrated on her and did a good job in the first half. That's how Georgia came back in the game, they found a way to get her the ball in the second half and she was able to finish. They outrebounded us in both halves and that hurt. I thought we fought hard and the effort was definitely there tonight."
Humphrey led four Bulldogs with 21 points and nine rebounds, as UF shot 56.7 percent during the decisive second half and held a 41-25 rebounding edge during the game.
Mosby became the 18th different Gator to score 1,000 career points when she nailed an eight-foot jumper giving her 10 points with 5:28 remaining in the first half put her over the plateau. Mosby tied as the eighth fastest Gator to reach the scoring milestone, as Thursday's game against Georgia was her 77th wearing the Orange and Blue.
Tamia Williams was the only other Gator to score in double-figures, netting 14 for UF which shot just 33.3 percent during the second half and 38.5 percent for the game.
After Dalila Eshe hit two free throws to tie the game six seconds into the second half, Georgia went on an 8-0 run to take a 39-31 lead with 17:03 remaining. But Tamia Williams nailed her second three-pointer of the game and Sarah Lowe followed with a jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to three, 39-36.
The teams traded buckets over the next three minutes and Mosby's jumper with 12:33 remaining had the Gators within two, 45-43. However UG started to slowly pull away, first using a 5-0 run. UF stayed within five points with just over eight minutes left, before the Lady Bulldogs capitalized on a hot-shooting 11-2 spree to take a 65-51 lead with under five minutes to play and the Gators just couldn't recover.
Florida jumped out to a quick 12-3 lead, hitting five of its first seven shots from the field, including both from the three-point line, with Bernice Mosby, Tashia Morehead and Brittany Davis all contributing. After a short jumper from Tasha Humphrey ended a 10-0 Gator spree, Mosby sank one free throw and Morehead added a bucket underneath to extend UF's lead to 15-5 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
However, Georgia struck back with a 10-0 run of its own to tie the game with 10:23 on the clock. Sarah Lowe answered for UF with a trey from the left side of the arc to give the Gators an 18-15 lead. The teams traded baskets for the next six minutes before the Lady Bulldogs used a 7-0 spurt to assume a 29-24 lead with just under two minutes remaining in the period. Morehead hit two from the charity stripe to stop UF's scoring drought, but Sherill Baker stripped Tamia Williams and raced the length of the court for a layup with 32 ticks on the clock that extended UG's lead to five. Williams redeemed herself on UF's next possession, canning a three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to close the gap to 31-29 at halftime.
Georgia held a 20-14 rebounding advantage in the first half, as the Lady Bulldogs netted seven second-chance points compared with none for UF, which committed 10 turnovers and shot 44 percent (11-25) from the floor. UG hit 35.5 percent (11-31) from the field and had nine miscues.
The Gators next travel to No. 23 Vanderbilt on Sunday, January 30. That game will be televised live by College Sports Southeast and can be see in Gainesville on Cox Cable channel 15.
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