Sha Brooks led a frantic comeback effort with 19 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome 10 three-point baskets and late solid free throw shooting from Mississippi State as the Lady Bulldogs escaped with a 79-74 victory over Florida on Sunday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Florida mounted a 19-9 run in the latter stages of the second half and turned what was a 16-point deficit into a tie game with less than two minutes to play but Mississippi State came up with a pair of layups and made its free throws down the stretch to seal the game.
The Bulldogs (16-9 overall, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) were victorious for the sixth time in their last seven games, while the Gators fell to 6-20 on the season and 0-11 in SEC play.
“We really felt like this was going to be our night,” Florida coach Carolyn Peck said. “It was disappointing because we felt like we were in a position to win the game. Sha Brooks and Briana Phillips really stepped it up down the stretch and picked up their play. Sharielle Smith also played really well for just a freshman in the first half. I really liked what we did defensively, but we need to continue to work on taking care of the ball.”
Smith complimented Brooks with a career best 14 points, including 10 in the first half, while Phillips added 13 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. Brooks had her 19th double-figure scoring game this year and with three treys, she tied former Gator Kerry Cremeans (1990-94) for fifth in UF history with 109 in her career.
Marneshia Richard led the Bulldogs with a game-high 24 points.
Florida tied the game at 69-69 for the first time since the early stages of the opening half after Marshae Dotson made a pair of free throws with 1:59 left. After a jumper from Mississippi State, Brooks drove to the basket and was fouled before making her free throws to tie the game at 71-71 with 59.6 remaining.
Alex Rack scored on a layup to make it 73-71 before Brooks missed a three. Robin Porter then connected on an uncontested layup to put Mississippi State up by four at 75-71 with 36.3 seconds left. After a missed three-pointer by Depree Bowden, Richard made a pair of free throws to put the Bulldogs in front 77-17 with 26 seconds left.
Brooks promptly canned a three-pointer with 15.2 seconds to play and then produced a steal to give Florida the ball back down by three at 77-74 with 11 seconds left. Brooks missed a three before Bowden grabbed the offensive rebound. She took an off-balance trey from the right side that didn't fall before the Bulldogs grabbed the rebound and UF fouled with 0.2 seconds to close out the game.
The loss was the 13th in a row for the Gators and matched the 2002-03 team's streak for the longest in school history.
Florida carried over its momentum from the end of the first half into the second by scoring nine of the first 11 points. Phillips got things going with a bucket to bring UF within six at 38-32. After the Bulldogs answered, Brooks canned a three-pointer before adding a pair free throws at the 17:14 mark. Following a Mississippi State timeout, Smith scored on a fast-break layup to bring the Gators within one at 40-39 with 16:31 left to play.
Florida again came as close as a point when Kim Dye made a three-pointer with 14:45 left to make the score 43-42 in favor of the Bulldogs. Mississippi State responded with a pair of threes and a three-point play to move back in front by double figures at 52-42 with 12:15 to go.
The Gators still had fight left in them when Smith secured an offensive rebound and a put-back to set her career high with her 14th point before Dotson scored on a put-back three possessions later to bring Florida back within six at 52-46 with 10:27 remaining in the game.
Mississippi State answered with a 7-0 run to move back in front by 11 at 59-48 with 7:03 to play. Phillips connected on a three-pointer to cut the lead to eight at 59-51 before Dotson added a basket and Dye notched her second three of the game to bring the Gators within five at 61-56 with 5:40 left.
After a pair of free throws from the Bulldogs, Brooks closed the gap to four after a three-point play before Phillips capped a 13-4 run with a 10-foot baseline jumper to narrow the gap to two at 63-61 with 5:01 remaining.
Mississippi State scored the next four points before the Gators made four-straight free throws to again come within two at 67-65 with 3:15 to go. After the Bulldogs went ahead 69-65, Phillips added a basket before Dotson made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 69-69 with 1:59 left.
After Brooks again tied the contest at 71-71 with 59.6 seconds left, the Bulldogs out-scored the Gators 8-3 the rest of the way to close out the game.
In the opening half, the Gators got off to a great start with Dotson and Brooks accounting for the first five points of the contest on a runner followed by a trey. The Bulldogs answered with a 12-0 run in a span of 2:27 to move ahead 12-5. Florida cut the deficit to three points when Bowden connected on a jumper to make it 12-9 with 14:50 left in the half. But Mississippi State went on a 9-0 run from there to push its lead back up to 12 at 21-9 with 10:32 remaining.
Mississippi State extended its advantage to 14 at 38-24 with 2:36 left in the half, but the Gators closed things out with a 6-0 run. Smith connected on a jumper followed by a put-back from Phillips before Brooks sank a shot with 32 seconds left to close out the scoring in the half and bring UF within eight at 38-30.
Florida has a Thursday-bye before returning to action on Sunday, February 18 when the Gators travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama in a game slated for a 3 p.m. (ET) start.
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