The University of Florida women's basketball team dropped a disappointing 69-65 decision to South Carolina on Sunday in the final regular-season home game played at O'Connell Center.
The Gators (16-11, 5-7 SEC) actually held a nine-point lead midway through the first half, limiting the Gamecocks (14-13, 3-9 SEC) to just seven points with 6:26 remaining in the period. That's when the visitors came alive, as a three-pointer from Ebony Jones and a pair of driving layups from Samone Kennedy ignited a 8-0 run that helped USC end the half on a 24-13 march and take a 31-29 lead entering the locker room.
South Carolina continued that momentum in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first six points to build a 37-29 lead, which eventually grew to 12 points (52-40) with 11:52 remaining. The Gators cut the deficit to five points, 52-47, after a quick 7-0 run started by Lonnika Thompson's three-pointer, but Ashlie Billingslea ended the march with back-to-back driving lay-ups that started a 7-3 swing the other way and USC assumed a 61-50 advantage with 6:30 on the clock.
Florida finally found some energy, as Marshae Dotson's hook shot in the paint over 6-foot-6 Ilona Burgrova sparked a 12-2 run that included a pair of three-pointers from senior Depree Bowden and the Gators were within one, 63-62, with 2:27 remaining.
The Gamecocks didn't hit a field goal in the final 4:50 of the game, however, sealed the win at the free throw line, hitting 6-for-6 in the final 1:56, when the Gators missed a layup and one free throw that could have tightened the game.
While South Carolina hit with confidence from the free throw line, nailing 10-of-14 during the game, the Gators shot a woeful 61.3 percent, hitting just 19-of-31, while getting out-rebounded 40-34.
"South Carolina played a great game and we didn't," UF head coach Amanda Butler said. "Today, we didn't rebound well or hit free throws. We just opened the door. I thought South Carolina was tougher than us, which is disappointing because I think we have a real tough, scrappy team. For whatever reason, we didn't play that way this afternoon."
Dotson, who had started 57 consecutive games prior to coming off the bench for Sunday's outing, finished with a game-high 17 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor while collecting seven rebounds and three steals. Bowden, the lone senior of the 2007-08 Gator squad, pitched in 12 points and six rebounds, while Sha Brooks added 10 points for Florida, which hit just 4-of-19 three-point attempts, while USC canned 7-of-15 from long range.
Jordan Jones led a balanced USC scoring attack with 16 points, as she led the Gamecocks long range shooting by hitting 5-of-9 from behind the arc. Kennedy finished with 10 points, including two free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining that sealed the game.
Florida plays its final two regular-season games on the road, first traveling to Knoxville, where the Gators face No. 3 Tennessee on Thursday in Thompson-Boling Arena beginning at 7 p.m. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WRUF-AM850 and through www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening Statement
"South Carolina played a great game and we didn't. We really escaped when we played them in Columbia. Today, we didn't rebound well or hit free throws. You just can't get away with that two times in this league, no matter who you're playing or how good or successful you've been on the road. We just opened the door. I thought South Carolina was tougher than us, which is disappointing because I think we have a real tough, scrappy team. For whatever reason, we didn't play that way this afternoon."
On the start of the game
"I thought we came out hot and set the tone early. We made some plays and did some things well. Then it was just as if we relaxed a little bit. That is somewhat hard to understand because being in the SEC there is no moment you should be able to relax until the game is over. We're in a position where we're learning that lesson the hard way."
On Learning Lessons
"It does really hurt. It is unfortunate. Depree, obviously, doesn't deserve this type of performance on her senior night. Big picture-wise, trying to understand where we've come from, where we are now, and where we want to go, maybe you can take some positive benefits from it. It is disappointing being this late in the season and being in the position we are in and still have to learn this type of lesson."
On Marshae Dotson Not Starting
"She didn't practice yesterday because she didn't feel well."
Senior Guard Depree Bowden
On how quickly her four years have gone by
"They've gone by really fast. It feels like I just got here as a freshmen, but it feels like it's just gone by really fast."
On what she learned during her career
"I learned to fight through adversity, most of all. I think my four years here I had a lot of adversity. You just have to fight through it."
Junior Forward Marshae Dotson
On being sick
"I had a high temperature and didn't feel good. I felt okay. I got a headache towards the end though. I guess that's because I haven't been eating. I didn't eat at all yesterday."
South Carolina Head Coach Susan Walvius
Opening Statement
"We were actually coming off one of our poorest performances of the season, I thought. We had two really focused days of practice coming in here. I thought our team scrapped. I was proud of our scrap today, our real aggressive play, and our point guard play. Samone Kennedy played fantastic for us today. We have been very hard on our point guards recently. I thought Ashlie Billingslea did a nice job for us, which opened up Jordan Jones and gave her an opportunity to play her natural position at the two. I'm just real excited."
On the play of Jordan Jones:
"That's what she's capable of. Jones has been playing the point guard for us the majority of the year because she typically doesn't turn the ball over and understands what we're looking for and she'll call the play. With Ashlie and Samone, too, we have three freshmen really that are playing the point guard position for us. Jordan not having that responsibility frees her up to do what she does well. With Samone playing well that created that opportunity for Jordan to shoot. Our post players did a nice job of setting screens and Jordan did a nice job reading the defense. That is why we bought Jordan in. Unfortunately for her, she's had to play a lot of the 'one' for us this year."
On the slow start in the first half:
"I wasn't pleased with the way we started the game. What I told them in practice is that if they were careless with the basketball and weren't working hard they were coming out of the game. You saw many substitutions, which also probably contributed to that a little bit. It was difficult to get into a rhythm. In time, people understood, 'Hey, you're going to get taken out if you're not working hard.' So we had some kids get in and found a group that had some good chemistry and went from there. It was absolutely awful basketball the first 10 minutes for us. Fortunately, we got it together for thirty (minutes)."
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