Junior Marshae Dotson (Columbus, Ohio) tied her career-high of 26 points, snared a game-high 12 rebounds and was involved in two crucial plays in the final six seconds of Florida's tough 60-58 loss to Kentucky on Thursday evening in Memorial Coliseum.
Florida (11-5) had two offensive possessions with under seven seconds remaining, but both opportunities went awry and the Wildcats (7-8) managed to snap the Gator's seven-game win streak and earn the victory in both teams' Southeastern Conference openers.
“We're disappointed in the outcome but at the same time, it's a road game and you don't expect the ball to bounce your way or decisions to be made in your favor, especially when they're in the heat of the moment,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “We have to control the things we can control. We missed some free throws, we started slow, we didn't score enough points, we didn't play Florida Basketball and you have to credit Kentucky for that.”
The usually accurate Gators hit just 13-of-20 from the free throw line for 65 percent during the game, while committing 24 turnovers.
Florida was aggressive out of the locker room and quickly eliminated a five-point deficit, as Dotson converted a feed inside from Lonnika Thompson to start a 7-2 run that tied the game at 32-all after Sha Brooks' 3-pointer from the left corner.
The Gators had a couple chances to take the lead, but couldn't get a shot to fall, as UK tallied the next four points. UF came right back with four straight points after Sharielle Smith took a dish from Dotson in the paint before Dotson, herself, connected on an acrobatic layin and the game was tied at 36 with 15:43 to go. Brooks then sank one free throw to give the Gators their first lead since three minutes into the game.
The lead was short lived, as Samantha Mahoney drove the lane for a short jumper before Smith added one free throw to tied the game at 38. Chelsea Chowning nailed a three-point for UK and sparked a 7-0 run, as the Wildcats led 45-38 with 11:26 remaining.
The Gators came right back after Jennifer Mossor's jumper ignited a 7-0 run, as Dotson converted a three-point play and came up with a steal on UK's ensuing possession, driving the length of the court for the layup to tie the game at 45-all with 10:12 on the clock.
The game was tied twice more over the next three-plus minutes, the last time after Smith nailed a three-pointer from the right corner with 6:42 remaining. UK hit the next bucket and Chowning again came up with a huge three-pointer, extending the Wildcat lead to five, 55-50, with 5:10 left in the game.
The teams exchanged buckets and the Gators found their way to the free throw line, but had trouble sinking both, coming away with one each from Depree Bowden and Dotson, as UF whittled the lead down to three, 57-54, with just under two minutes remaining. Mahoney countered with a field goal that swelled the lead back to five with 1:32 to play.
Dotson came right back, found her way to the line and made both with 1:15 left in the game, before she followed that with a slashing drive with 50 seconds left and the Gators were within one point, 59-58.
After a strong defensive stand where the Gator forced a shot-clock violation, Florida held the ball and placed it in Dotson's hands, where she when high for a pass but came down and fell to the floor, where the Wildcats took the ball away and called a timeout with 6.4 seconds left.
Florida stole the ball in the inbound pass and fed Dotson, but she was called for an offensive charge with 2.3 seconds remaining. Chowning made one free throw and intentionally missed the second with under two seconds remaining, as UF was unable to go the length of the court for a chance to tie or win the game.
Sha Brooks was the only other Gator to reach double-figure scoring, as she tallied 13 points. Sharielle Smtih scored six points and collected 10 rebounds in 22 minutes of work for Florida, which won the rebounding battle, 42-38.
Samantha Mahoney's 22 points led UK, while Amber Smith chipped in 13 points, as the Wildcats hit 39 percent from the floor and committed 20 turnovers.
Florida shot just 29 percent (9-of-31) in the first half and the taller Wildcats caused problems in the paint for the Gators, who had five shots blocked. Dotson, however, still powered her way inside, scoring a team-high 10 points with seven rebounds and kept the rebounding margin close, as UK held a 20-17 edge in the opening frame.
The Gators' first two field goals of the night were from behind the arc, helping UF take an early four-point lead. UK connected on the next two scores to even the game, before Dotson put back an offensive rebound. The Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run and held a 12-8 lead, but Florida tied the score with buckets from Brittaney Thomas and Dotson.
That's when UK used a 10-2 run with back-to-back treys from Amber Smith and Samantha Mahoney, as the home team's lead swelled to eight, 22-14, with nine and half minutes to play.
Sha Brooks added to the long-range barrage with a 3-pointer for the Gators, but Lydia Watkins came right back with one for the Cats, who maintained their eight-point cushion. Dotson continued to pound her way inside and converted a nice dish from Lonnika Thompson. She followed that with an offensive put-back and Brooks added one free throw to cut the deficit to three, 25-22, with five and half remaining in the period. UK added one from the stripe, where Dotson then sank a pair and the Gators were within two, 26-24, with 2:16 on the clock.
UF struggled with its shot in the final minutes, as UK ended on a 4-1 march and took a 30-25 halftime lead.
The Gators return to action on Sunday, when Florida plays host to Alabama in the team's SEC home opener in the O'Connell Center beginning at 2 p.m. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WRUF 850AM and thru www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.
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