Florida Gators
Seton Hall
W-Basketball Wins Seton Hall Classic with 52-48 Thriller over Hosting Pirates
Sunday, November 20, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Brittany Davis powered up a layin with 26 seconds remaining to give the University of Florida women's basketball team a two-point lead en route to a 52-48 victory over Seton Hall (0-1) in the second round of the Seton Hall Basketball Classic. Fellow Gator senior Daila Eshe capped the scoring with another layin at the buzzer to end the game's scoring.
“Our seniors have been in those tight, close situations since their freshmen year and now they wanted the ball down the stretch,” UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. “They wanted the ball and make a good finish. Our seniors showed a lot of maturity today.”
The Gators (2-0) shot just 33.9 percent (21-62), but forced 23 turnovers and held a 37-34 rebounding advantage.
“I have to compliment our team. We did a lot of talking and rotating defensively,” Peck said. “There are going to be nights when our shot won't fall and tonight was one of those, but our defensive has to be there and it was. To hold a team to 48 points after shooting 37 percent is a great compliment to our defense. We still have a lot of work, but our team looked tough tonight.”
Freshman Sha Brooks led a balanced Gator scoring attack for the second consecutive night, recording 18 points with seven steals in 40 minutes of work. Danielle Santos added 12 points with four rebounds and three steals, while Brittany Davis added 10 points. Dalila Eshe collected a team-high eight rebounds with seven points in the win.
“I really like our balance,” Peck said. “It's like how our men's team has been successful. It's not any one person you have to depend on and that's what we're doing, we're taking pride scoring and winning as a team.”
Heta Korpivaara was the lone Pirate in double figures, netting 11, while Monique Blake collected a game-high 11 rebounds with nine points.
“This was a tough game because Seton Hall is a much improved team from last year,” Peck said. “They have a lot of nice shooters on the outside and Blake when to work on the inside. It was the toughest game we've played beginning with the exhibition contests.
Florida shot just 3-of-14 to start the second half, but never relinquished the lead during the stretch, as the Pirates also struggled during the opening minutes by hitting 2-of-8. With Florida holding a 40-34 lead, Monique Blake converted a three-point play and the Gators committed four turnovers while missing their shots, as Seton Hall staged a 7-0 run to take a 41-40 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Danielle Santos hit a baseline runner to stop the spree as the Gators re-took the lead, but Blake answered with a shot that rattled around and fell in as the shot clock expired.
Sha Brooks coolly nailed a three-point from the baseline with 4:53 on the clock to give the Gators a 45-43 lead. She then came up with a pair of steals on consecutive defensive possessions, but UF couldn't convert on either. SHU's Heta Korpivaara then hit a nifty runner in the lane to tie the game with 3:48 remaining. Brooks missed two free throws the next time down which hurt as Korpivaara canned a three-pointer that gave the hosts a 48-45 lead with just over three minutes remaining.
Brooks then collected a loose ball after a Santos' block, running the floor through traffic and dropping in a layup with 1:57 on the clock to bring the Gators within one, 48-47. Santos then snatched the defensive board and was fouled by Blake. Santos hit the front end of the 1-and-1, missed the back end, but collected the offensive board. But UF couldn't capitalize as Brittany Davis was called for a three-second lane violation and Seton Hall took possession.
Korpivaara missed a three-point attempt and Blake collected the rebound, but fell out of bounds giving the ball back to the Gators. This time, Florida's seniors came through, as Santos dished the ball inside to Davis, who powered up a layup with 26 seconds remaining to give the Gators a 50-48 lead. Kari Shutz then missed her trey attempt with 13 seconds left and Depree Bowden collected the miss and fired it out to a streaking Dalila Eshe, who dribbled half the court and sank a layup as the final horn sounded.
The teams traded mini runs for the first 13 minutes of the game when SHU's Britney Messina canned a three-pointer with 6:40 on the clock to give the Pirates their second 4-point lead of the game. However, the Gators responded with a 12-2 run to take a 29-22 advantage after Danielle Santos' capped the spree with a trey. Marshae Dotson came off the bench to spark the run, scoring three points with three rebounds and an assist. Seton Hall got its offensive back on track with a bucket and four free throws to get within one, 29-28. The teams then traded buckets to end the half with the Gators holding a slim 31-30 advantage.
Florida also held a 22-15 cushion on the boards in the first half, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds while holding the Pirates to just three. The Gators also shot the ball 13 more times, but converted just 35.1 percent (13-37) of their shots compared to SHU's 41.7 percent (10-24) mark.
The Gators did have more bench support at the guard position against the Pirates than during Friday's win versus St. Francis, as Kim Dye, who sat out the game to rest an injury, played 13 minutes to give UF a second option off the bench along with freshman Kim Critton. The Gators will have senior caption Sarah Lowe back in the mix next Wednesday, as she did not make this weekend's trip to interview for the Rhodes Scholarship. Unfortunately, she was not one of the two individuals selected for the scholarship as the recipients were revealed Saturday afternoon.
“We never want to have to play without Sarah again,” Peck said. “We so proud of her and the opportunity she received, but we can't wait to have her back. It just wasn't the same this weekend without her.”
Florida continues its season-opening three-game road trip on Wednesday when the Gators travel to Tallahassee to face instate rival Florida State at 7 p.m. ET.
END OF REPORT
