A pair of free throws by junior guard Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) after an intentional foul with 1.2 seconds remaining capped a dramatic ending to a 75-73 win for the Florida women's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at the O'Connell Center.
Florida (16-10, 5-6 SEC) overcame a 10-point first-half deficit, an eight-point second half hole and sophomore guard Jennifer Mossor (Orlando, Fla.) tied her career high with 20 points to lead four Gators in double figures against the Lady Razorbacks (17-8, 2-8 SEC).
“We're worn out but it was a tremendous win for us for a lot of reasons,” UF head coach Amanda Butler shared. "Bouncing back from a tough road swing to generate that much confidence to win the game, is a credit to our leadership from our senior and our captains. I was proud that we made some defensive plays that put us in the position that we were in to win the game at the end.”
Arkansas guard Brittney Vaughn, who finished with 18 points, tied the game with 30 seconds left with a flat-footed three-pointer and the Gators were poised to strike for the win with the last possession. Florida was able to dump the ball in the post to junior forward Marshae Dotson (Columbus, Ohio) but her shot was errant and picked up by Vaughn, who inadvertently tripped up the court. Brooks hustled for the loose ball at mid-court, raced into the paint toward the basket, where she was fouled from behind by Sarah Pfeifer before Brooks could sink the layup.
The Gators put together a pair of 8-0 runs in the first half to help overcome a 10-point Arkansas lead. Florida went into halftime trailing 36-35, but riding momentum off a Bowden buzzer-beater with no time left on the clock.
The Gators, who improved to 6-2 this season in games decided by five points or less, also took care of the ball, committing a season-low 13 turnovers and were able to cash in on Arkansas' mistakes on the offensive end, scoring 23 points off of turnovers. Florida did, however, allow the Lady Razorbacks to hit 56 percent from the field, a season-high for a Gator opponent, as well as a season-best shooting performance for Arkansas.
Mossor equaled her career-high 20 points earlier in February against Mississippi State and she poured in 19 points against the Lady Razorbacks in February in Fayetteville. In Sunday's game, she shot 8-of-14 from the floor and scored five consecutive points on back-to-back possessions to give Florida a four-point lead at the 8:35 mark.
Brooks scored 16 points, senior guard Depree Bowden (Palmetto, Fla.) chipped in 17 and Dotson scored 10, as the Gators hit just under 46 percent of their shots from the floor. Bowden had a game-high eight rebounds, including five on the offensive glass that helped lead to 16 UF second-chance points.
The fast break worked to Florida's advantage, a result of good looks from outlet passes and a product of players streaking from the wing to the basket. The Gators were able to score 18 points off the fast break compared to eight by the Lady Razorbacks.
Brooks and Bowden combined for 23 of Florida's 35 first-half points. Dotson was recognized before the game for reaching the 1,000-point mark in her career against Mississippi State, the 20th player in school history to do so.
Joining Vaughn in double-figure scoring was Anayna Brereton, who also added 18 points, Charity Ford, who tallied 17 points, and Pfeifer, who finished with 12, hitting 4-of-5 from behind the arc.
The Gators have a mid-week bye before playing host to South Carolina on Sunday, February 24th in the team's final regular-season home game. Tip-off from the O'Connell Center is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be televised live by Sun Sports. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WRUF-850AM and through the internet at www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler Quotes
Opening Statement:
“We're worn out but it was a tremendous win for us for a lot of reasons. Bouncing back from a tough road swing to generate that much confidence to win the game, is a credit to our leadership from our senior and our captains. I was proud that we made some defensive plays that put us in the position that we were in to win the game at the end.”
"We practice hard in a lot of intense situations. I think that's what our team was sensing, that if we get the ball back, we're going to win. Hopefully, a little bit of our confidence came from what we've been working on."
"Jenn (Mossor) has worked very hard the last two days. She knew good things were going to happen before they did. You expect your perimeter players to step up and make reads and Jenn did that for us today."
Florida senior Depree Bowden
On the importance of transition scoring:
"It's very important. Coach always tells us to get out and run. I knew I had to step up."
On Sha Brooks making the game-winning free throws:
"I knew she was going to make them. I absolutely knew she was, so I was very confident."
Florida junior Sha Brooks
On reaction when Vaughn tripped:
"I was like 'YES!' I knew I had to pick up the ball and hit the lay up as fast as I could."
On whether she was watching the clock as she was dribbling for a layup in the final seconds:
"No, I just tried to run as fast as I could and make the shot."
Arkansas Head Coach Tom Collen
Opening Statement:
“It's real hard to go into the locker room and face your kids after situations like this. I've done it before so you never know what quite to say or what you're going to say to them. I can tell you that I told the kids that I was pretty proud of them. I thought they out-played Florida considering we were short handed and playing on the road. I think we came in here and did about everything we needed to do in order to win the game. I have a pretty vivid memory of some turnovers late in the game that cost us. There's no question about that. At the same time, we gave the ball over, got down six, came back, tied it, and had the ball. The kid that had been attacking all day long just tripped and fell. I believe in my heart, and I told her that she was going to go down the court and score. They really had not stopped her all game long. I feel bad for the kids because they've been playing so hard since we lost Lauren Ervin. They've worked so hard to find a way to win. We thought today was a winnable game and we were right on the verge of it but we let it get away from us. I feel bad for them but I think we're getting better. We go back home and play a couple of games. I hope when we get to the SEC Tournament we'll be good enough to go down there and find a way to win and upset somebody.”
On the difference of playing UF today versus January 20th:
“It had some similarities. We didn't give up quite as much in transition as what we gave up then, even though we gave up more than we should have. They kept leaking somebody out on us instead of boxing out. They kept cherry-picking to be honest with you. We struggled with that. They got some easy baskets. I thought our defense was still better than it was (last time), but it wasn't good enough. I think we played offensively with a lot more confidence. We knew what we wanted to do against them. We wanted to dribble penetrate and try to get them into foul trouble.”
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