University of Florida senior Brittany Davis (Gainesville) scored a career-high 29 points in leading a balanced offensive attack that produced a stunning 95-93 overtime victory against No. 5 Tennessee in Thompson-Boling Arena in the regular season finale for both teams.
Freshman Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) played 40 minutes and equaled her career-high with 25 points, while seniors Sarah Lowe (Wynnewood, Pa.), Dalila Eshe (Tallahassee) and Danielle Santos (Marietta, Ga.) accounted for the rest of Florida's scoring. Lowe tallied 15 points along with a season-high seven rebounds, a career-tying six steals and six assists with zero turnovers while playing all 45 minutes. Eshe hit for 13 points with four steals in 40 minutes, while Santos tallied 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists in 38 minutes.
“Our seniors are warriors,” UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. “They talked about different things they wanted to accomplish this season and beating Tennessee in Knoxville was one of those because it was something they had never done before.”
The Gators (20-7, 8-6 SEC) reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2000-01 season and snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Lady Vols (25-4, 11-4 SEC). Florida also collected its first win ever on Tennessee's home court in 16 tries did so in front of 20,790 fans (turnstile 17,595), the largest crowd ever to watch the Gators play.
Davis scored six of her 29 points in the overtime frame, while Lowe added three points and Brooks tallied four, including two free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining to give the Gators a four-point lead.
“We prepared all week to win this game, that's why we didn't roll around on the floor and carry on when that final horn sounded,” Peck said. “On paper when you look at the talent that Tennessee has, maybe this game doesn't turn out this way. But I kept telling them that it's going to be the best team that will win. We played as a team. We played team defense and forced turnovers and we put ourselves in a position to win. Danielle Santos and Brittany Davis started cramping, but they never quit or wanted to come out of the game. They never gave up. I'm so proud of this team, they focused and never got rattled when, playing in front of all these people, Tennessee made its run. They kept believing in each other and that was key.”
Florida's defense forced Tennessee into a season-high 28 turnovers, which the Gators converted into 30 points. UF also collected a season-high 20 steals and shot a steady 25-of-32 from the free throw line, including 4-of-8 in overtime. UT superior height advantage helped the Lady Vols to a 54-38 rebounding difference, but Florida held its own in the paint where UT outscored the Gators just 40-34.
“We really wanted to force Tennessee into 20 turnovers,” Peck said. “We knew we could generate some offense from it. We're never going to set the world on fire with our field goal percentage, but if we can continue to play defense every night, good things are going to happen.”
Florida shot 39.5 percent (32-81) in the game, but hit 48.5 percent (16-33) in the second half and 57.1 percent (4-7) in overtime. Tennessee canned 48.6 percent overall.
Brittany Davis scored the first points in overtime, but the Gators turned the ball over on their next two offensive possessions and UT took advantage, as Candace Parker scored the next five points of the game to give UT an 87-84 lead with three minutes remaining. Davis countered with a three-pointer from the left side of the arc to even the score. On UF's next possession, she went to the free throw line where she hit one of two to swing the lead back to UF, 88-87. Sha Brooks then hit a short jumper and Sarah Lowe sank a driving layup to give UF a 92-87 advantage with 1:12 remaining.
Zolman answered with two free throws and Parker added one, as UT closed within two, 92-90, with 56 seconds left. Sarah Lowe then hit one free throw and lifted the Gators to a three-point advantage, 93-90. UF's defensive star Danielle Santos fouled out with 28 seconds left, as Alex Fuller when to the line and made one. Lowe collected the miss and drove to UF's end of the floor and dribbled around forcing the Vols to foul Sha Brooks, who coolly dropped in two from the free throw line and gave the Gators a 95-91 lead with 10.2 seconds remaining. Tye'sha Fluker powered up an inside jumper to get the Vols within two, 95-93. UT sent Brooks to the free throw line with 1.1 seconds. She missed both attempts, but the Lady Vols were unable to get off a shot as the Gators pulled off the upset.
Florida's four seniors combined to score 70 of its 95 points, while Tennessee's senior pair accounted for 44 of 93 points. But it was a pair of freshmen for both teams who were key down the stretch. UT's red-shirt rookie Candace Parker recorded a career-high 34 points with 15 rebounds and five blocks, while UF's true frosh Sha Brooks tied her career high of 25 points and hit big free throws down the stretch.
Joining Parker in the double-figure scoring column for UT were seniors Tye'sha Fluker and Shanna Zolman, who each added 22 points with Fluker collecting 16 rebounds and Zolman dishing 10 assists, while Sidney Spencer added 11 points.
Florida scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game at 34-all, but senior Tye'sha Fluker canned two straight inside hoops to give UT the lead. Florida chipped away, never giving in and after falling behind 48-43 with 14:48 left, the Gators ripped off 18-2 run to take a 61-50 lead with 10:45 remaining. Sha Brooks came alive during the stretch, scoring eight points.
After the teams traded buckets, the Lady Vols road the wave of a raucous crowd and stormed back with a 12-2 run that cut UF's lead to one, 65-64, with 6:44 left in the game. Florida however, refused to relinquish the lead, as Danielle Santos calmly hit two free throws, as UF answered UT's buckets on consecutive trips before Dalila Eshe converted a three-point play to take a 72-68 lead with 4:47 left. The Vols countered with a 4-1 run and again got within one, 73-72, with 3:04 on the clock, before Brittany Davis hit a tough inside jumper and again the teams began to traded buckets and free throws.
After two more free throw from Candace Parker, the Gators seemed a little out of sync in their next offensive possession. But Brittany Davis nailed an eight-footer in traffic and gave the Gators a 79-76 lead with 1:09 remaining. UT had several shots on its trip down the floor, but missed all of them and fouled Dalila Eshe, who finally collected a miss. Eshe canned two free throws with 34 seconds remaining, before Zolman hit a deep three-pointer with 22.0 seconds on the clock to narrow UF's lead to two, 81-79.
Florida in-bounded the ball and UT fouled Sarah Lowe with 15.6 seconds remaining. Lowe missed the first, but hit the second to extend the Gator lead to three, 82-79, as UT called its final timeout. The Lady Vols worked the ball to senior sharp-shooter Shanna Zolman, who responded by nailed a three-pointer with 8.4 seconds left to tie the game. Sha Brooks got off a shot in the final second, but it bounced off the rim and the game headed into overtime.
Florida opened the game hitting just 1-of-13 field goal attempts, but the Lady Vols were just 2-8 with four turnovers as the Gators stayed within two points through the first six-plus minutes.
It was more of the same for the next few minutes. The Gators continued getting open looks at the basket, but their shots wouldn't fall, as the team hit only 3-of-18 (16.7%) in the game's first eight and half minutes, but it was the defense that forced seven Lady Vols miscues that kept them in the game down only 13-9 with 11:28 on the clock.
Shanna Zolman's third three-pointer of the game gave Tennessee a 20-13 lead with 9:25 remaining, but Florida kept its composure and its offense started flowing, as Danielle Santos and Sarah Lowe both found Dalila Eshe open under the basket for short jumpers. Lowe then stole the ball on UT's next possession and streaked down the court for a lay-in to get Florida within one, 20-19, with 8:09 left in the first half.
UT responded using a 6-0 run with four points from senior Tye'sha Fluker and a mid-range jumper from Zolman to extend its lead back to seven, 30-23, with 3:05 remaining. The Gators refused to succumb to a larger run, as Danielle Santos hit a slashing layup. Fluker hit two more free throws, before Sha Brooks hit her first three-pointer after missing her initial five attempts to bring UF within four, 32-28. Fluker again answered with a bucket in the paint, but Brittany Davis followed for UF with one of her own to end the half's scoring, the Gators down 34-30.
Florida overcame a miserable shooting start to end the first half with a 29.3 percentage mark on 12-of-41 shots, including 1-of-12 from behind the three-point arc. The Gators' defense came up big in the first 20 minutes, with Florida collected 13 steals and forced 16 turnovers. UT held a 23-20 rebounding edge and hit just 5-of-11 from the free throw line, while UF connected on 5-of-6 and committed just seven turnovers.
Up next is the Southeastern Conference Tournament, which begins on Thursday, March 2 at ALLTEL Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. Florida earned the No. 5 seed and will face 12th-seeded Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m. ET in the first round, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals to play No. 4-seeded Kentucky on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Additional Notes:
Florida's victory also was its 20th this season, as the team improved to 20-7 overall and 8-6 in the Southeastern Conference. It was the first time since the 2000-01 season the Gators have won 20 games and the ninth time in program history reaching the 20-win plateau.
The decision marked just the second loss ever at home to an unranked opponent for the Lady Vols, and the first time in Thompson-Boling Arena. Cincinnati defeated then-12th ranked Tennessee 72-69 on Nov. 26, 1984 in Stokely Athletics Center for the only other loss. Overall, the Lady Vols had lost just 15 games in Thompson-Boling and all to ranked opponents. The loss also was the first time since the 1984-85 season that UT has lost two SEC home games.
The victory was Florida's second in 10 days over a top-5 ranked team. The Gators upset No. 2 LSU in Gainesville on February 16, 79-78, in overtime.
The last time Florida defeated a top-10 team on the road was January 24, 2002, when the 18th-ranked Gators defeated No. 6 Vanderbilt, 62-51, in Nashville.
Florida forced Tennessee into a season-high 28 turnovers.
The Gators collected a season-high 20 steals.
Tennessee entered Sunday's game holding a 34-1 series record against Florida, with a 15-0 mark in Knoxville. The Lady Vols had won 12 straight, including last year's 91-82 thriller in Gainesville. Only 23 of the 82 points scored in last year's game were scored by Gators who suited up for Sunday's contest.
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