Florida Gators
Texas-Arlington
Dalila Eshe Leads Women's Hoops to Sixth Straight Win, Tops Texas-Arlington, 59-49
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Senior Dalila Eshe (Tallahassee) scored a career-high 25 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks leading the University of Florida women's basketball squad to a 59-49 victory over Texas-Arlington on Monday evening at the O'Connell Center.
The Gators, who were playing for the first time in 10 days, improved to 8-1, their best nine-game start under head coach Carolyn Peck. UF's current six-game win streak is tied for the longest in four years under Peck.
Joining Eshe with double-digits in the scoring column were Brittany Davis (Gainesville, Fla.), who totaled 10 points and seven rebounds with three assists, while freshman Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) poured in 12, including a clutch three-pointer with 1:33 remaining.
“This one wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination,” Peck said. “After looking at the film and the stat sheets for Texas-Arlington, we knew we were going up against a great rebounding team, and they came into this game averaging 17 offensive boards a game. They got 24 against us. We didn't do a good job of boxing out tonight, and it's something we have to work on in the next days at practice.”
Texas-Arlington (5-4) evened the score at 39-39 with 11:47 to play in the game after Marynann Abanobi knocked down the Mustang's only trey of the contest after 12 previous unsuccessful tries beyond the arch. After a pair of free throws from Melanie Lane, UTA took their first lead of the half, 41-39, with 10:43 left to play.
The Orange and Blue responded with a 20-10 spurt to finish the game. Florida retook the lead with less than nine minutes remaining and never looked back en route to the victory. Davis stopped a 4:29 scoreless drought for the Gators with a three-point play after pouring in a layup from underneath the basket and adding a free throw to bring Florida back to within one, 43-42.
“I am gaining more and more confidence in Dalila Eshe and Brittany Davis right now,” Peck added. “Eshe is gaining more and more confidence out on the floor, and her teammates are gaining more confidence in her as well. Brittany is also someone who is consistently scoring points for us, which is a big key to the way we are playing as a team.”
Following Davis's three-point play, the Gators forced a UTA turnover and junior Kim Dye (Fayetteville, Tenn.) added her second three-pointer of the evening to give UF the lead for good at 45-43.
“I keep saying Kim Dye, Kim Dye, Kim Dye,” Peck said. “She ran down several loose balls tonight out of our press defense and hit some big shots for us. She helped in giving us and extending our leads.”
Both teams got off to a sluggish start after the Gators connected on just one of their first six shots from the field. The Mustangs did not fare much better, connecting on only three of their first nine attempts as they paced themselves to a 6-2 lead. Eshe broke the UF slump with a jumper at the 14:58 mark to bring Florida back to within one at 6-5.
On UF's next possession, freshman Brooks drove to the lane and kissed a layup off the glass in traffic to give the Gators their first lead of the night at 7-6. The back-to-back baskets began a 15-5 run on six-of-seven shooting for the Gators as they took control of the game.
In the opening half, the Mustangs missed more shots (26) than the Gators attempted (19) as UT-Arlington hit 29.7 percent on 11-of-37 shooting from the field, including a 0-for-11 mark from beyond the arch, in the game's first 20 minutes.
UTA was 1-for-18 from three-point land for the game, registering a dismal 6 percent from beyond the arch.
All but two of UTA's first half baskets came from inside the paint. UTA's Terra Wallace knotted the score at 17-17 with a jump shot at the 5:49 mark to complete a 6-0 Mustang run. Wallace had a double-double, finishing the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Florida ended the half on a 10-6 spurt and went into the locker room ahead by a 27-23 margin.
The Gators finished the game with a slight edge in points off turnovers (17-15) despite losing the turnover battle 19-16. The Mustangs pulled down 12 more rebounds (44-32) and outscored the Gators 19-2 in second-chance points.
“We will get back to our workout schedule tomorrow and will look at some film on our next opponent, Florida A&M,” Peck said. “We have to continue to work on our game, and we look forward to getting back on the court Wednesday afternoon.”
Next up for the Gators is a date with instate foe Florida A&M (2-5) on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Fans can follow along with the action with GatorVision Online. Tip-off from the O'Connell Center is set for 1 p.m. EST.
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