Sophomore Marshae Dotson scored a team-high 24 points leading the University of Florida women's basketball team to an exciting 66-64 victory over Alabama Sunday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
The win snapped the Gators' 13-game losing streak, while handing the Crimson Tide (10-17, 0-12 SEC) their consecutive 12th loss.
It was a one-possession game for the final 6:42 of the contest, with four lead changes and one tie, as neither team was able to pull away. With the score knotted at 64-all, Dotson sealed off her defender at the top of the key and Jennifer Mossor dropped in a perfect pass as Dotson powered in an uncontested layup with 54 seconds remaining to give the Gators (7-20, 1-11 SEC) a two-point lead.
Depree Bowden stripped the ball from Navonda Moore on Alabama's next possession and Sha Brooks dribbled the ball trying to run the clock out. But Talisha Chandler picked Brooks' pocket with 10 seconds remaining, giving the Tide one final chance. Moore put up a shot from under the basket, which rolled around the rim and fell out as the final horn sounded.
“It was a nail-bitter all the way to the end and easily could have gone to overtime,” Florida head coach Carolyn Peck said. “I talked to the team in the locker room about how neither team had won an SEC game and it was going to come down to the team that wanted to win more. I was really proud of how our team stepped up and fought their way back, with our execution down the stretch. Marshae Dotson hit some really big shots down the stretch. Sha Brooks ran the offense. Depree Bowden did a good job of boxing out. We got some great minutes off the bench, especially from Jennifer Mossor.”
Florida started quickly in the first half, but Alabama took charge to open the second, using a 23-7 run to erase the Gators' 33-26 halftime lead and take a 49-40 advantage with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Shortly afterwards, Dotson scored five straight points and got Florida within four points, 51-47, with 10:09 left. The teams traded buckets, with Alabama's Navonda Moore sinking a trey that lifted the Tide to a 56-49 edge with 9:05 on the clock.
Again the teams exchanged scores, as Alabama maintained a six-point lead, 58-52, with 7:48 remaining. Jennifer Mossor hit one free throw, missing the second, but Dotson collected the miss and powered the ball back in to spark a 9-2 Gator run that gave Florida a 61-60 lead with 3:30 on the clock.
Tamara Williams hit a jumper that swung the lead back to Alabama, but Brooks answered with an 8-footer from the right side and Dotson followed with a pair of free throws that gave the Gators a 64-62 lead with 1:33 remaining. Moore tied the game with two free throws with 1:24 on the clock, setting the stage for Dotson's final bucket.
Brooks joined Dotson as the only Gators in double-figures contributing 14 points with four steals. Dotson, who also collected nine rebounds, hit 9-of-10 from the floor.
Moore led Alabama with 24 points, while Talisha Chandler recorded 12 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Tide out-rebound the Gators 47-34, including 25 offensive boards.
Florida roared out from the opening tip, hitting four of its first five shots, including three-pointers from Sha Brooks and Kim Dye, and short jumpers from Depree Bowden and Marshae Dotson, as the Gators built a 10-2 lead, while the Tide hit just 1-of-7 shots during those opening two minutes.
Alabama finally settled and put back a pair of offensive rebounds to cut UF's lead to four points, 10-6. The Gators responded with a 6-0 run and upped their lead to 10 points, 16-6, with 12:31 remaining in the first half.
The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes until Alabama went on a 7-0 march and got within three, 25-22, with 4:35 left. Dotson stopped the run with a 12-footer and Brooks hit a deep trey and the advantage was back to eight. The Tide tried another run, scoring the next four points, but Brooks dropped in her third 3-pointer of the period to end the half's scoring with the Gators taking a 33-26 lead into the locker room.
Brooks led all first-half scorers with 11 points, hitting 3-of-6 from the 3-point arc, while Dotson tallied eight points and seven rebounds. Both teams shot identical from the field, hitting 10-of-33, but UF hit five treys compared to one for the Tied. UF also converted all eight of its free throw attempts, while UA sank 5-of-8 from the charity stripe, but did hold a 25-18 rebounding edge.
The Gators continue their two-game road trip to the state of Alabama on Thursday, traveling to Auburn to play the Tigers at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WRUF 850AM and through the internet at www.GatorZone.com.
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