Gator senior Dalila Eshe (Tallahassee) scored 21 points with a career high 17 rebounds and Florida used a 19-6 run midway through the second half en route to a 63-48 victory over Mississippi State Thursday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
The win was the third straight for the Gators, who improved to 18-5 overall, 6-4 in the Southeastern Conference while posting their first victory in Starkville since an 82-70 decision back on Jan. 4, 2001. The Lady Bulldogs lost their eighth consecutive game and fell to 6-17, 1-9 in the SEC.
“Dalila Eshe and Sarah Lowe did a great job of exhibiting senior leadership, especially in the second half,” UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. “Dalila really took over inside and Sarah got us to execute our offense. We didn't execute very well in the first half. We had a lot of different lineups in the game and our execution wasn't as sharp as I would have liked it to have been. Then we missed shots and that affected the intensity of our defense and from day one that's the one area we've preached. Missing a shot should not affect how you guard somebody. We have to do a better job of not allowing that to effect us.”
Along with her fourth double-double of the season, Eshe extended her consecutive made free throw streak to 37, hitting all five in the win. Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.), the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, contributed 11 points, while Marshae Dotson (Columbus, Ohio) sparked UF off the bench with 10 points and nine rebounds.
After shooting just 18.5 percent in the first half, Mississippi State came out and hit its first two shots of the second period to cut UF's lead to one, 24-23, with 18:50 remaining. Sha Brooks then canned a three-pointer from the left corner to start the Gators scoring, but Miayorka Johnson put back an offensive rebound and UF called a timeout. The Gators responded by scoring the next two buckets, one from Marshae Dotson and an offensive put-back by Dalila Eshe, to extend the lead back to six, 31-25, with 15:29 remaining.
The teams traded scores for the next two minutes, with Brooks hitting a deep trey off an in-bounds play before Eshe sank two free throws and helped UF's lead grow to nine, 38-29, with 12:46 left.
MSU scored the next four points, cutting the lead to five, before Brittany Davis sank a 10-footer, Sarah Lowe connected on an outside jumper and then Eshe scored six straight points to spark a 14-4 run, as Florida took a 52-37 lead with just under six minutes left and never looked back.
The Gators shot just 34.7 percent (25-72) in the game, but the Lady Bulldogs managed just 29.5 percent (18-61) and committed 21 turnovers that UF converted into 21 points.
Miayorka Johnson led MSU with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Robin Porter tallied 12 points with 10 boards for the Bulldogs.
With the scored tied at 8-all, Florida used an 11-2 run over a 4:20 span thanks to six points off the bench from Marshae Dotson to begin to distance itself and take a 21-10 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half. The Gators again held an 11-point advantage with 6:46 left in the period after Depree Bowden's driving layup, however those were the last points UF scored during the half. Mississippi State, which shot just 18.5 percent (5-27) and committed 11 turnovers during the first half, was unable to take advantage of UF's scoring drought, tallying just five points down the stretch, all from the free throw line, to cut the Gator lead to six points, 24-18, entering halftime.
Florida shot just 33.3 percent (11-33) from the floor and used a variety of different lineups in the first half, with Jessica Jackson and Kim Critton seeing extended playing time.
Florida returns to action on Sunday, playing host to South Carolina in the O'Connell Center beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The game is the second to last home appearance for the Gators this season. Fans can tune into the radio to listen to the game in Gainesville on WRUF AM850 or watch on GatorVision available through the internet at www.GatorZone.com.
END OF REPORT
