Senior Danielle Santos scored nine points during a 13-1 run late in the game to lead the University of Florida women's basketball team defeated Ole Miss 66-58 at the C.M. Smith Coliseum Thursday evening.
With Ole Miss (11-6, 1-3 SEC) holding a four-point lead with just under nine minutes remaining, Santos exploded with three consecutive three-pointers and then hit another to give the Gators (14-3, 2-2 SEC) the lead for good and their first Southeastern Conference road win.
“Our team did a very good job of finding Danielle and our seniors showed great leadership down the stretch,” UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. “Sarah Lowe did a tremendous job of finding Danielle and then after she hit one, did a good job of finding her again. That strategy of going to and finding the hot hand worked. Danielle had the guts to step up and want to win the game. She wasn't tentative or hesitant and played like a senior.”
Santos finished the game with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to record her first career double-double. She also dished a game-high seven assists for the Gators, who shot 39.3 percent for the game, including a 42.4 percent mark in the second half when UF out-scored UM 46-36.
Santos was one of three Gators who posted double-doubles, as senior Dalila Eshe contributed a team-high 14 points with 11 rebounds and freshman Marshae Dotson added 13 points and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes of play. Brittany Davis also tallied 15 points in the win for UF which snapped a two-game losing streak and posted its first victory over former head coach Carol Ross.
“This was a great win, a special win, especially for our seniors,” Peck said. “They had not won here so for them to come on the road and battle hard and for the team to battle hard with them was great. There is no easy win in the SEC and getting one on the road is even tougher.”
UM's Carla Bartee led all scorers with 20 points, while Danetra Forrest added 19 points with 14 rebounds for the Lady Rebels, who shot just 29.5 percent in the game, while holding a slim 52-50 rebounding edge. Armintie Price collected a game-high 14 rebounds for UM, which scored 20 second-chance points.
Eshe scored the first points of the second half to tie the game at 22-all, but UM's Carla Bartee sank a three-pointer and Armintie Price hit one free throw to give the Lady Rebels a 26-22 lead. UF turned the ball over on its next possession and the momentum seemed to be in favor of Ole Miss. But the Gators forced a stop on the defensive end and Eshe snared her 10th rebound of the game and put back the offensive board. Brittany Davis followed with a three-point play to give the Gators the lead, 27-26.
The lead changed hands on the next three possessions and the game had two tied scores during this two and half minute span before Marshae Dotson converted another three-point play for Florida and then hit another short jumper to give the Gators a 35-32 lead with 12 minutes remaining. But Tasi Worsham canned a trey to tie the game. Sarah Lowe netted four straight free throws between a UM bucket before Bartee nailed a three-pointer and Danetra Forrest converted a three-point play for UM to swing the advantage back to the hosts, 43-39, with 8:52 remaining.
The Gators missed their first 11 three-point attempts before Danielle Santos nailed one from the right corner in front of UF's bench. Eshe followed with an offensive put-back before Santos canned another from beyond the arc. UM got one free throw from Price, before Santos stroked the long ball again to give the Gators a 50-44 lead with 6:25 on the clock. Eshe converted a pair from the charity stripe on the next series and extended UF's lead to eight, 52-44. After two Rebel free throws, Santos hit her fourth trey during the spree, as the Gators claimed a 55-46 lead. Bartee answered with a trey for UM, but Brittany Davis put back in a miss to keep UF's advantage, 57-49 with 4:23 left. Eshe followed with two free throws and the Gators had a 59-49 advantage with 3:58 remaining.
But UM staged a rally, as Danetra Forrest put back an offensive rebound and Bartee followed with a three-pointer to close the gap to five, 59-54, with just over three minutes remaining.
UF worked the shot clock to perfection on its next possession, as Eshe hit a jumper in the paint with two seconds left, giving UF a 61-54 lead. But Eshe fouled out on the ensuing series, as Forrest made the shot, but missed the free throw and UM was within five, 61-56 with 1:50 remaining.
The teams traded misses before Lowe grabbed a defensive board a streaked the length of the court and dropped in a layin to extend the lead back to seven with 48 seconds left, as UF hit 3-of-4 free throws the rest of the way to secure the victory.
The Lady Rebels crashed the offensive boards early propelling them to an 8-0 run early in the game to take a 12-4 lead six minutes into the game. Florida chipped away at the deficit thanks to a great spark off the bench in Marshae Dotson, who scored four points and grabbed three rebounds during the Gators' 8-2 spree and closed within two points, 14-12.
Jessica Jackson's turnaround jumper in the paint with six minutes remaining in the half brought UF within 17-16 and following a defensive stop, Sha Brooks found Dalila Eshe under the basket who made the short jumper and gave the Gators their first lead of the game. UF again held Ole Miss to one shot on the offensive end and Brooks dished a nifty assist to Eshe, who finished and lifted the Gators to a three-point advantage, 20-17, with 3:15 on the clock.
Ashley Johnson ended a six-minute scoring drought for Ole Miss when she canned a trey with 1:08 remaining to tie the game at 20. Brooks drove hard to the basket and put up a shot that rolled around the rim and fell out, as UM had the ball for the final possession, when Ashley Awkward canned a 10-footer at the buzzer to give the Lady Rebels a 22-20 halftime lead. It was the sixth consecutive game the Gators headed into the lockerroom trailing at the break.
Each team collected 24 rebounds during the first half, with 10 of Ole Miss' coming on the offensive end. UF committed 13 turnovers during the opening 20 minutes, but held UM to just 25.6 percent shooting and forced eight miscues.
The Gators next return to action on Sunday, January 22, when Florida plays host to 19th-ranked Vanderbilt in the O'Connell Center beginning at 3 p.m. The game is the annual Milk Challenge, presented by Blockbuster Video and sponsored by the Florida Dairy Farmers, Inc. The first 2,000 kids age 12 and under receive a replica Florida women's basketball jersey.
END OF REPORT
