Each of the Gator's four seniors had a big night in helping the Florida women's basketball team defeat Big Ten foe Illinois, 69-64. The Gators never trailed and improved to 7-1, their best start under head coach Carolyn Peck, while the Fighting Illini (5-3) saw their three-game win streak come to an end.
Seniors Danielle Santos (Marietta, Ga.), Brittany Davis (Gainesville, Fla.), Dalila Eshe (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Sarah Lowe (Wynnewood, Pa.) each reached double figures in scoring, accounting for 57 of UF's 69 points.
Davis had her second career double-double with 14 rebounds and 12 points along with a career-high five steals. Santos led the squad with a season-high 18, while Eshe poured in 16 with eight rebounds and Lowe tallied 11 points with seven assists and five rebounds.
Lowe hit a pair of free throws with 13.5 seconds to play to ice the game and push her point total into the double-figures.
“It was one heck of a ball game,” Peck said. “We knew going into the game that we would get a tough challenge in Illinois, and I knew they were going to have a good balance of outside shooters and inside presence. I am really proud of all four of our seniors. They all stepped up really big for us.”
In the opening half, the Gators jumped out to a 16-4 lead after creating five Illini turnovers in the game's first six minutes. Illinois then put on a 7-0 run of their own to cut the score to 16-11 before Santos knocked down her second three-pointer of the half to push UF's lead back out to 19-11 with 11:10 on the clock.
Santos, Davis and Eshe scored 35 of the team's first-half points with each reaching double-figures prior to the intermission. Davis and Santos both had 12 while Eshe added 11. The trio was a combined 6-for-7 beyond the arch en route to UF's 41-31 advantage at the break.
“I thought that our girls did a terrific job in the second half,” Illinois head coach Theresa Grentz said. “I thought the Illinois team fought hard and came out in the second half with the right mindset to win the game. We switched our defensive game plan and had some success with that. We just didn't hit the right shots at the right time.”
Illinois came out of the locker room and switched from their zone coverage to man-to-man to subdue the Florida offense. The Illini opened the second half with a 15-8 run that included a 9-4 spurt powered by four points from Janelle Hughes, who finished with a team-high 18 points, to cut the Gators' lead to just three at 49-46 with less than 14 minutes to play.
“I thought the second half was a matter of us just missing our shots,” Peck added. “We had some good looks at open shots, but we just didn't make them. We have to get a better awareness of the shot clock in certain instances, and I think we hit a stretch where we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win.”
The two teams continued to trade baskets until Hughes made a three-pointer to close the Florida gap to 53-52 with 10:25 left in the contest. Santos broke an almost six minute scoreless streak for the Gators with a jumper at the 7:12 mark to extend Florida's lead back to three at 55-52. UF led by as many as six down the stretch (67-61) and finished the game with a 14-9 run to reach the final score.
“We took a timeout late in the second half and discussed being more aggressive on the court and playing to win rather than not to lose,” Peck explained. “Our seniors stepped up and played with a lot of confidence in each other as a group.”
Florida tied their season-high with eight treys, matching their total set earlier this season against Stetson on Nov. 27. UF forced 16 UI turnovers while committing only 10 and outscored the Illini in points off possession by the same margin (16-10). The Gators connected on 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch to put away the Illini, despite being outscored 33-28 in the second half, when UF shot just 30.8 percent compared to the 46.2 clip by the visitors. The Illini won the battle for points in the paint (26-20) and the rebounding battle 41-36.
The Gators take a 10-day break for final exams, returning to the court on Monday, December 19 to play host to UT-Arlington. Tip-off from the O'Connell Center is set for 7 p.m. EST.
END OF REPORT
