Senior forward Marshae Dotson (Columbus, Ohio) scored a team-high 20 points, junior forward Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) notched the team's first double-double of the season and No. 18/20 Florida tied the longest winning streak in school history with an 85-76 victory against Vermont Monday on the opening day of the 2008 State Farm Classic in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Gators (12-1) had four players score in double figures for the second time this season and three players tallied 15 or more points for the second consecutive game. Florida out-rebounded the Catamounts (5-6) 41-28 and the Gators +13 edge on the glass marked its second-largest rebounding advantage of the season.
“There are a lot of positives to draw on from this game and also a lot of things we can take back to the drawing board,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “Defense was where we had our biggest let down. We didn't play Florida defense tonight, but we finally came alive on the boards and I thought Sharielle had everything to do that. We had great balanced scoring with four players in double figures, but I thought the rebounding war was really the story of the ballgame.”
Florida, which is tied its best start in school history through 13 games, also tied a program record with its 12th consecutive win, a feat accomplished only by the 1993-94 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Butler was the starting point guard as a junior during that season, as well.
“That's why streaks and records are set, so hopefully you can break them,” Butler said. “One of our objectives with our team, starting with last year, was that we wanted to have firsts, make history and do things that haven't been done here. It's a nice reward to talk about, but it's hard to enjoy when there is so much basketball left to be played.”
Dotson charted her 17th career 20-point scoring effort and added seven rebounds in 29 minutes of play. She increased her career points total to 1,237, which moves her into 16th place on the school's all-time career scoring list.
Senior guard Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) followed with 19 points, a team-high five assists and a season-high four steals, while junior guard Jennifer Mossor (Orlando, Fla.) tallied 16 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Smith, who scored her 500th career point in the game, had 11 points and tied her career high with 11 rebounds for her second career double-double and the first by a Gator this year.
For the game, Vermont shot a blistering 50.0 percent (30-of-60) from the field and connected on 10 of its 12 free-throw attempts. Florida shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the floor.
The Gators took a 35-33 advantage into the locker room at intermission after opening the game on an 8-0 run and holding a 14-2 advantage with 14:41 remaining in the first half. Florida held an impressive 28-12 edge on the glass in the opening period, but was out-shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) to 36.4 percent (12-of-33).
With Florida ahead 18-5 with 12:21 left until intermission, the Catamounts went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:07 to cut within four, 18-14. The Gators continued to hold a slight advantage and were up 24-18 when three different Vermont players knocked down a basket each in succession to tie the score at 24-24 with 6:30 remaining in the period. Two free throws by Mossor stopped the Catamount scoring streak. On the ensuing possession, Thompson forced a steal in the back court leading to an Aneika Henry (Coconut Grove, Fla.) hoop that put Florida up 28-24. Five consecutive Vermont points put it in front 29-28 with 3:19 left in the half. The two teams battled back-and-fourth for the remainder of the period.
With Florida leading 41-38 early in the second half, junior guard Steffi Sorensen (Jacksonville, Fla.) knocked down a 3-pointer and Mossor nailed three free-throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to extend the Gators' edge to nine, 47-38, with 16:21 left in the game. Vermont began slowly chipping into the UF advantage and ran off five consecutive points to cut within three, 50-47 with 13:28 remaining. From there, Florida used a 12-4 run over the next 2:07 to push its lead out to 11, 62-51.
Three consecutive baskets by the Catamounts, including two 3-pointers, brought Vermont to within four, 64-60. The Catamounts hung close and, with the Gators leading 69-64, Florida went on a 6-0 run to take a 75-64 advantage after a fast-break lay-up by Brooks with 5:00 left. The two teams battled evenly until four consecutive points by May Kotsopoulos brought Virginia to within five, 79-74, with 1:32 left. Brooks, however, made 4-of-4 free throws in the game's final 45 seconds to lock up the victory.
Vermont was led by a pair of 20-point scorers in Kotsopoulos (25) and Courtnay Pilypaitis (20).
“I was just really proud of our kids,” Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley said. “We play up to this level so we are ready for our conference. I was very impressed with how we came out and kept getting after it. The fact that we were able to play player-for-player against Florida is really something to feel good about. They're so athletic that we thought we were going to have to sit in a zone all day. There's a lot of things to feel good about. No one likes to lose, but if you have to lose, we lost to a quality team. Florida is well coached, rebounds great and everyone sticks to their role. This one will help us to play well in the America East.”
Florida returns to action on Tuesday when it faces Miami (Ohio) in championship game of the State Farm Classic. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST in the O'Connell Center. Towson and Vermont square off in the tournament's consolation game at 5 p.m.
POST-GAME NOTES
· Florida improves to 12-1 on the season, tying for its best start in school history through 13 games. Vermont drops to 5-6 with the loss.
· The game marked the first meeting between the two squads and the Gators now lead the all-time series 1-0. UF is now 7-0 all-time vs. teams in the current alignment of the America East Conference.
· Florida tied its school record for most consecutive victories with 12. Only the 1993-94 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament had accomplished that feat in program history prior to Monday's win.
· Vermont is one of 18 different teams on UF's 2008-09 schedule that earned a postseason berth last year.
· Junior forward Sharielle Smith finished with 11 points and eclipsed the 500-point mark for her career (509) in Monday's game.
o Smith tied her career high with 11 rebounds. She has accomplished that feat on two previous occasions.
o Smith registered her second career double-double and the first by a Gator player this season.
· Senior forward Marshae Dotson scored a team-high 20 points to increase her career points total to 1,237. That moves her into 16th place on the school's all-time career scoring list.
o Dotson moved into eighth place on the school's all-time career free-throws made list, going 4-of-6 from the line on Monday to increase her career free-throws made total to 277. She surpassed Tombi Bell (1997-01), who hit 274 charity shots in her career.
· Junior guard Steffi Sorensen has hit at least one 3-pointer in eight consecutive games. She knocked down three treys in Monday's game.
· Senior center Aneika Henry had two blocks in the game to increase her career total to 76 and allow her to surpass Naomi Mobley (1998-01) for sole possession of eighth place on the school's all-time career blocks list.
MIAMI (OHIO) 69, TOWSON 68
Junior Miami (Ohio) guard Courtney Reed nailed two free throws with 2.9 seconds left as the RedHawks rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat Towson 69-68 on Monday in the first game of the 2008 State Farm Classic in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Reed, who finished the game with 10 points and a 6-for-6 mark from the free-throw line as one of three Miami (8-3) players in double-figure scoring, was tripped attempting to catch an inbounds pass in the final seconds of the game and knocked down both free-throw attempts to complete the RedHawks' comeback.
Freshman guard Maggie Boyer scored a career-high 19 points to lead the RedHawks, surpassing her previous high of 17 scored at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 14, 2008. Schone added 14 points to move her into a tie for ninth place on the school's all-time career scoring list with 1,227 career points, tying Julie Howell (1988-92).
Towson (7-2) was led by junior forward Katrina Wheeler's team-high 15 points, while junior forward Kandace Davis added 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.
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