Sophomore guard Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) scored a team-high 16 points and sophomore forward Marshae Dotson (Columbus, Ohio) notched her first double-double of the season to lead a tenacious Florida rebounding effort Thursday, but No. 16/14 Louisville held off a late Gator rally for a 77-60 win in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Gators (5-7), who were looking for their 16th consecutive non-conference home victory, trimmed a 20-point second-half deficit to 11 points, 51-40, with 13:43 remaining but were unable to complete the rally against the unbeaten Cardinals (13-0).
“There's a reason Louisville is ranked 16th in the nation,” Florida head coach Carolyn Peck said. “They are a very good ball club. They have really two All-America candidates in Jazz Covington and Angel McCoughtry. The thing we can take away from today is that we showed a lot of improvement. We got some contributions from some players that are very young and haven't gotten much experience. Their hard work in practice is paying off. We are showing improvement and that's what you're looking for this time of year.”
Florida was strong on the boards, falling just short in the rebound battle, 46-45, led by Dotson's career-high 13 boards. Dotson added 14 points for her third career double-double. The Gators were forced to contend with a hot shooting night by the Cardinals. Louisville connected on 48.5 percent (34-of-70) of its shots from the floor and had two players eclipse the 20-point plateau.
Brooks, playing a season-high 40 minutes, recorded her sixth consecutive double-figure scoring game and also tied her career high with five assists. Freshman guard Jennifer Mossor (Orlando, Fla.) scored a career-high nine points, while classmate Brittaney Thomas (Montgomery, Ala.) also had a career-high eight points. Florida's bench stepped up big, out-scoring the Louisville reserves 18-10.
“I like the toughness that we got from Sha Brooks,” Peck said. “She played 40 minutes and played hard on both sides of the ball. The offensive production we received from Dotson was important, and I like the no-fear attitude from Mossor, Thomas and Sharielle Smith.”
Florida hung tough with the Cardinals despite a difficult shooting night. The Gators shot 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the floor and just 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from the free-throw line. Louisville's size advantage proved a key in the game – the Cardinals have nine players taller than 6-foot – as it out-scored the Gators 42-30 in the paint and 19-7 on second-chance opportunities.
Louisville, which led 39-25 at intermission, stormed out of the locker room at halftime to build a 19-point (44-25) advantage after five consecutive points by all-America candidate Jazz Covington. With the Cardinals leading 47-27, Mossor canned back-to-back three-pointers to bring Florida within 16, 49-33.
The Gators continued chipping away at the Louisville advantage with three consecutive baskets by Brooks, the last of which was a three-pointer, to close within 11, 51-40, with 13:43 remaining. From there, the Cardinals scored nine unanswered points to go up 60-40 with 11:09 left, but Florida would not back down.
Four different Gators nailed consecutive hoops to bring Florida within 12, 60-48, with 8:30 left, but that would be as close as it would come. Louisville built its lead back out to 18 points, 74-56, with 3:04 left and didn't look back.
Strong shooting by the Cardinals in the first half allowed them to take a 39-23 advantage into the locker room. Louisville shot a blistering 50 percent (18-of-36) from the floor in the opening period after struggling out of the gates. The Gators were tenacious on the boards in the first half, out-rebounding Louisville 24-22.
Florida broke to an early 5-2 advantage after a pair of baskets by Brooks, but the Cardinals rallied to knot the score at 5. The teams continued to trade baskets, but Louisville used a 7-0 run to take an 18-10 lead with 12:03 remaining until halftime. After the Gators came within six, 22-16, Louisville went on a 9-2 run over the next 3:58 to go ahead 31-18 with 6:28 left.
Louisville's Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 27 points and brought down a game-high 14 rebounds, while Covington added 23 points and nine boards.
“This was a great win for us,” Louisville head coach Tom Collen said. “Coming into this game, even with Florida's record being what it was, we still knew it was going to be a challenge. Florida is awfully athletic, but a very young team. Their athleticism challenged us today. When Florida made runs, I don't think our kids got rattled. We showed reasonably good poise. We hung on and executed. It wasn't enough to pull away, but it was enough to come away with the win.”
Florida breaks for the holidays before returning home to host the 16th-annual State Farm Classic. The four-team event gets underway on December 28, with Nebraska and N.C. State playing at 4:30 p.m., before Alabama State plays the Gators at 7 p.m. The championship and consolation games are played on December 29, with Florida playing the 7 p.m. contest.
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