University of Florida senior Dalila Eshe, a native of Tallahassee, scored a career-high 21 points with seven rebounds in front of her hometown family and friends, but it wasn't enough as the Gators (2-1) lost to Florida State 82-76 at the Tucker Civic Center in front of 1,711.
Florida held an 11-point lead, 57-46, with just over 11 minutes remaining before the Seminoles (2-1) charged back with an 11-2 run and followed with shortly thereafter with a devastating 12-2 march to take a 75-67 lead with under two minutes remaining.
“Rebounding. Rebounding. Rebounding. That's what wins ball games,” UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. “Rebounding tonight was Britany Miller from Florida State. She has zero offensive rebounds in the first half, but had four during that final stretch for FSU that tied the game. They had one three-point shot in the second half, the rest of them coming from within the paint. We did not do our job rebounding the ball tonight.”
The teams shot identically from the floor, hitting 29-of-59 for the game with each canning one three-pointer. But the scoring difference came at the free throw line, where the Gators made 13-of-19 and Seminoles hit 19-of-28.
As Peck eluded to, the other major difference was rebounding, where FSU outrebounded UF 23-11 in the second half, with 11 of the Seminoles boards offensive. FSU also did not commit a turnover in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Included among Eshe's career scoring effort were the first two three-pointers of her career.
“I would rather have sat on the bench and get the win,” a somber Eshe said. “Points and stats don't matter if you don't win.”
“Dalila played one heck of a ballgame and she has nothing to hang her head about,” Peck shared.
Joining Eshe in the double-figure scoring column was Sha Brooks, Brittany Davis and Marshae Dotson, who contributed 14, 13 and 10 points, respectively. Dotson also collected seven rebounds and shot 4-of-5 from the field in 19 minutes of action.
Trailing 38-31 in the early stages of the second half, Florida chipped away at the deficit and got to within one point three different times before Dalila Eshe hit a jumper with 15:42 to put the Gators over the hump and take a 45-44 lead. That bucket sparked a 16-2 spree, as Florida extended its lead to 11 points, 57-46, with 11:01 remaining. Freshmen Sha Brooks had eight points and Marshae Dotson tallied four points with several rebounds during the stretch.
After the teams traded buckets, it was Florida State's turn to make a run, staging an 11-2 march to tie the game at 61 with 6:08 remaining. UF didn't relinquish the lead for the next few minutes and the game was tied twice more. With the Gators holding a 65-63 lead, FSU ripped off a 12-2 run, getting six of those points off of multiple offensive rebound chances, to take a 75-67 lead with under two minutes remaining.
Danielle Santos converted a three-point play with 55 seconds left to close the gap to five, 75-70. Eshe then stole the ball off the inbounds pass, making one free throw after being fouled to get UF within four. Ganiyat Adeduntan responded for FSU, coolly converting four straight attempts to lift the Seminoles back to an eight point lead, 79-71, with 31 seconds remaining. Sha Brooks canned a trey with 23 ticks left to give UF hope, down just five, but Adeduntan hit another attempt from the stripe to give FSU an 80-74 lead. Dotson sank two from the charity line afterwards to get the Gators within four, but Tanae Davis-Cain followed with two from the line to end the game's scoring.
“This was one heck of a ballgame,” Peck said. “It was a see-saw battle the entire game. The biggest difference was rebounding. I like our defense tonight, except for the offensive rebounds we allowed. I thought our post players played well and we got some good guard play and minutes off the bench. We're off tomorrow because it's Thanksgiving, but we'll be boxing out in practice all day Friday.”
Both teams raced up and down the floor trading shots that resulted in four lead changes and one tie in the initial two and half minutes of the game. UF finally hit two consecutive field goals and held a 10-6 lead. The teams again traded buckets before FSU used a 7-0 run to take a 15-12 lead with 11:47 on the clock.
Sarah Lowe stopped the spree by sinking two free throws and a driving layin. With UF holding an 18-17 lead after a nifty drive to the basket by Sha Brooks, the Seminoles went on an 8-0 run and took a 26-18 advantage with 6:24 remaining in the half.
Dalila Eshe powered in a short jumper on consecutive possessions to spark a 9-0 run during which Brooks, Brittany Davis and Kim Critton scored for the Gators to swing the lead back in UF's favor, 27-26, with 3:30 on the clock. But Holly Johnson came right back to end the run with a three-pointer. Marshae Dotson put in a short jumper on a pass from Davis to tie the score with 1:43 remaining, however, the Seminoles closed the half on a 7-2 march to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room.
The first half featured 11 scoring changes and two ties, with the teams matching each other almost shot for shot and run for run. Brittany Davis and Dalila Eshe both tallied nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of play for the Gators, who shot 41.4 percent (12-29) from the floor and held a 20-12 rebounding advantage. The Seminoles hit 51.9 percent (14-27) of their shots, including a 4-12 effort from the three-point arc.
The Gators next return to the court on Sunday, when the team plays its home opener, entertaining Stetson (0-2) at 2 p.m. in the O'Connell Center. That game will be televised live on Sun Sports with the radio broadcast available in Gainesville on WRUF-AM850 and through the internet at www.GatorZone.com.
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