Brittany Davis recorded her fourth career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds as Florida avenged its only loss of the season in coming back from an 11-point second-half deficit in defeating Florida State 72-62 Monday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Florida (12-1) became just the fourth team in school history to start a season with 12 wins in its first 13 games in handing Florida State (9-4) its 17th loss in the last 19 contests in the series between the two teams.
The Gators forced 14 turnovers and picked up 10 steals in the second half, while sinking 14-of-24 shots (58.3 percent) after the break as Florida enters the Southeastern Conference schedule having won 10-straight contests – the second-longest streak in school history.
“Our team did a tremendous job of fighting back from behind – this team is on a mission,” Florida coach Carolyn Peck said. “We showed a lot of composure and tremendous commitment tonight. Our bench showing the amount of depth we had is very promising as we go into SEC play.”
Depree Bowden added a career-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Gators, while Marshae Dotson chimed in with a career-best 14 points on a perfect 7-for-7 night from the field and collecting seven rebounds. Sha Brooks also ended the contest in double figures with 13 points.
Davis extended her streak of consecutive games in double-figure scoring to 12, while Brooks pushed her stretch to five straight contests.
Laquinta Neely paced Florida State with 15 points. The Gators hauled in 37 rebounds to 29 for Florida State – just the third time this season the Seminoles have been out-rebounded.
The Gator bench also outscored Florida State 29-2, led by Bowden and Dotson's output.
The Gators turned the tables on the Seminoles in the second half by using a 15-0 run in going from down 11 to up by four as UF turned up its defensive intensity in forcing six turnovers during the stretch, while Florida State went without a field goal for more than nine minutes.
The Seminoles started strong with nine of the first 11 points in the second half in again moving on top by 11 at 39-28 and later 41-30 with 15:15 left to play.
But Florida then clamped down defensively as Florida State failed to score on its next 12 possessions, while the Gator offensive flourished. A layup by Bowden at the 13:57 mark got things going before UF went on to tally the next 13 points.
Six different Gators scored in the 15-0 run, led by Davis who notched five, three of which came the seventh trey of her career. Florida took its first lead since 9-8 after Davis canned the first of a pair of free throws at 42-41 with 9:05 left and the Gators didn't relinquish the advantage the rest of the game.
Florida State finally ended its drought with a basket to cut UF's lead to two at 45-43 with 7:40 left, but the Gators answered with eight of the next 10 points in forging ahead 53-45 with 5:24 remaining after another Bowden layup.
The Seminoles refused to go away and narrowed the gap to just four at 62-58 with 1:32 left, but Brooks effectively sealed the game with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:11 to play to give UF an insurmountable cushion of seven at 65-58.
Florida improved to 197-55 in school history against teams from the Sunshine State including 14-4 under Peck. The Gators also won their eighth straight contest at home – the longest streak since 2002-03.
After making good on just 11-of-30 shots in the first half, the Gators found themselves trailing Florida State 30-25 at the break. But a late 10-0 helped Florida reduce what had grown as large as an 11-point lead for the Seminoles.
The score was close in the opening stages before Florida State gradually pulled away, using a 6-0 run in building an 11-point advantage at 26-15 with 6:07 left in the half. But the Gators responded as a layup by Bowden with 5:49 left ignited a 10-0 UF run. Davis followed with a bucket before Sarah Lowe added a pair of free throws with 2:12 left as UF cut the lead to 27-21.
Dotson added another Gator layup before Davis capped the streak with a deuce as UF came within two at 27-25 with 58.0 seconds left. The Seminoles added a bucket with 4.0 seconds to end the scoring in the half.
Florida returns to action Thursday, Jan. 5 when the Gators open SEC play by hosting Alabama at a GatorVision Online contest slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
END OF REPORT
