No. 15 Florida's senior class combined for 44 points and 16 rebounds to direct the Gators to an 82-66 victory against South Carolina on Senior Day Sunday in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Gators (23-5, 9-4 Southeastern Conference), who picked up their 300th all-time home win, led the entire game and fought off several intense comeback efforts by the Gamecocks (10-15, 2-10 SEC) to notch their 23rd win, one shy of the program's all-time record.
Senior guard Sha Brooks (Jackson, Tenn.) scored a game-high 24 points in just over 39 minutes of action, marking her 10th 20-plus point performance this season. Brooks started her school-record 119th consecutive game, knocking down five 3-pointers, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line, dishing out a game-high eight assists and bringing down a team-high six rebounds.
“It was a special day for us,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “It was an opportunity to honor four young ladies who have given so much to their university. The fact that we were able to do that off the heels of another big SEC victory was special. South Carolina is one of the scrappiest, most competitive teams in the league. Their fight and spirit is very, very strong and we knew that we were going to have to come ready. We knew that if we brought Florida basketball fight and fire, that we were going to be in good shape.”
Senior forward Marshae Dotson (Columbus, Ohio) added 18 points, blocked two shots and added five rebounds, while senior center Aneika Henry (Coconut Grove, Fla.) chipped in five rebounds with three assists.
Junior forward Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) tallied 12 points and freshman center Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) tied her career high with three blocks.
Freshman guard Trumae Lucas (Greensboro, N.C.) earned her first career start, becoming Florida's first true freshman to start a game since Jennifer Mossor (Orlando, Fla.) did so against Vanderbilt on March 2, 2007 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
“One of the reasons why this team has been so successful this season is because they are a confident bunch,” Butler said. “I think that we knew that with the work we have put in the past two days in practice, what the result was going to be. We wanted to make sure that we played with enough confidence, aggressiveness and a little bit of that swagger.”
Florida shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the floor in the game and connected on 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the charity stripe – its highest free-throw percentage in a league game this season. The Gators won the battle of the boards 38-34 and knocked down 10 3-pointers, the seventh time this season they've sank double-digit treys.
The Gators took a 30-26 advantage into the locker room at intermission after leading the entire period. Florida shot an impressive 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from the floor in the first half, while limiting South Carolina to just a 26.3 percent (10-of-38) efficiency from the floor.
Florida scored the first nine points of the game and held the Gamecocks without a field goal for the first 3:48. The two teams traded baskets for the next three-plus minutes to bring South Carolina within seven, 15-8, with 13:06 left in the half. From there, the Gamecocks trimmed their deficit down to four, 16-12, after a 4-1 run ending at the 11:29 mark.
Junior guard Steffi Sorensen (Jacksonville, Fla.) stopped the streak with a resounding 3-pointer that sparked a 7-0 run over the next 2:30 that was capped off by a Stewart block on one end of the floor and a pull-up jumper by Brooks on the other end of the floor that put the Gators ahead 23-12 and forced South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley to burn a timeout.
Florida extended the scoring spree to a 12-2 streak that put it ahead 28-14 with 5:33 remaining until intermission. The Gamecocks responded with a 7-0 run over the next 1:38 to whittle their deficit down to 28-21. A hoop by Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) stopped Florida's scoring drought, but the Gators were held scoreless for the final 3:29 of the first half.
“The biggest message that the coaches delivered at halftime was that South Carolina was scoring off of rebounds and second chances,” Butler said. “We shot a higher percentage, but they finished the game with 70 attempts because we gave them too many chances. At halftime, they had 13 offensive rebounds and we challenged our guards to do a better job of boxing out. I thought we did a better job of stepping up to that challenge in the second half.”
Florida and South Carolina traded points for the first five minutes of the second half before the Gamecocks used a 5-0 run to cut within three, 41-38, with 14:51 remaining. USC again cut within three, but Sorensen and Brooks each hit 3-pointers to push the Gator lead back out to seven, 49-42, with 11:21 left in the game.
With Florida leading by six, 51-45, the Gators went on a 12-5 run to extend their advantage to 63-50 with 6:23 left on the clock. The Gamecocks got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Seniors Brooks, Kim Critton (Memphis, Tenn.), Dotson and Henry each were honored in a Senior Day celebration following Sunday's game in recognition of the quartet playing its final regular-season home game. Each of the four seniors was taken out of the game with 20 seconds remaining to a standing ovation by the O'Connell Center crowd.
South Carolina was led by freshman guard Lakeisha Sutton's team-high 17 points. Senior forward CJ Pace brought down a game-high seven rebounds.
“I thought our team played well,” Staley said. “I thought we won the hustle plays and the areas in which we had to win in order to put ourselves in a position to win. We got beat by a good basketball team that did what they did well, especially [Marshae] Dotson, and [Sha] Brooks. They just had their way with us today.”
Florida returns to action on Sunday, March 1, when it travels to Athens, Ga., to take on Georgia in the regular-season finale for both squads. The game will be televised live on CSS and will air live on WRUF-AM850 in Gainesville and through www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.
POST-GAME NOTES
Ÿ Florida improves to 23-5 overall and 9-4 in the Southeastern Conference, while South Carolina drops to 10-15, 2-10 SEC.
Ÿ The Gators are one victory away from matching their program record for victories in a single season (24).
Ÿ UF now leads the all-time series between the two teams 18-8.
Ÿ The Gators earned their 300th all-time home victory in program history.
Ÿ With her first career start on Sunday, rookie Trumae Lucas became Florida's first true freshman to start a game since Jennifer Mossor did so against Vanderbilt on March 2, 2007 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
Ÿ Junior forward Sharielle Smith scored her 600th career point in the game. With 12 points vs. South Carolina, she now has 610 career points.
Ÿ Senior guard Sha Brooks finished with five 3-pointers in the game and now has 203 career 3-pointers. She became just the third Gator in school history (Talatha Bingham and Brandi McCain are the others) to record 200 or more treys in a career.
Ÿ Brooks finished with 24 points, marking the 10th time this season and the 27th time in her career that she has eclipsed the 20-point plateau; Aside from a game-high 24 points, Brooks also led UF rebounds (6) and assists (8)
Ÿ Junior guard Steffi Sorensen finished with three 3-pointers, increasing her season total to 66 and moving her past Tamia Williams (2005) for fifth place on the school's all-time single-season 3-pointers made list.
Ÿ Florida converted 10+ three-pointers for the seventh time this season
POST-GAME QUOTES
FLORIDA HEAD COACH AMANDA BUTLER
“It was a special day for us. It was an opportunity to honor four young ladies who have given so much to their university. The fact that we were able to do that off the heels of another big SEC victory was special. South Carolina is one of the scrappiest, most competitive teams in the league. Their fight and spirit is very, very strong and we knew that we were going to have to come ready. We knew that if we brought Florida basketball fight and fire, that we were going to be in good shape.”
On snapping the team's three-game losing streak …
“One of the reasons why this team has been so successful this season is because they are a confident bunch. I think that we knew that with the work we have put in the past two days in practice, what the result was going to be. We wanted to make sure that we played with enough confidence, aggressiveness and a little bit of that swagger.”
On what the team worked on in practice since Thursday's loss to Arkansas …
“We really dwelt on just raising the level of competitiveness. We needed our toughness to be challenged and tested. That's exactly what we did. Give credit to our players, especially our four seniors, that they rose to the challenge. All season long, our seniors were leaders and came to work every day with the right attitude, ready to battle. This team faced their weaknesses head on and I am very proud of the way this team responded to individual and collective challenges.”
On if she sensed a strong desire from the seniors to win on Senior Day …
“I don't think it would have mattered who we played today. This group in particular was disappointed about the last three ballgames and knew how important this ball game was. That's what you want from your seniors, a sense of urgency. These guys brought that to practice last two days and really made sure their team was going to be ready for South Carolina.”
SENIOR GUARD SHA BROOKS
On what playing in her last home game meant to her …
“I just felt like this was another game. It was our last home game and we had to come out with a win. I didn't let that interfere with the game.”
On what the team has accomplished her senior year …
"We've had a pretty good year so far and my role is just to be more vocal. I've tried to do that. For all the seniors, we just try to set the example. That's what we did this year and we're still on a good run.”
SENIOR FORWARD MARSHAE DOTSON
On what playing in her last home game meant to her …
“It was a great feeling and I'm glad we went out with a bang. We didn't want what happened last year to happen this year. We felt like we let Depree [Bowden] down as a team. We had fun out there, it was a great crowd and that's how you want to go out.”
SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH DAWN STALEY
“I thought our team played well. I thought we won the hustle plays and the areas in which we had to win in order to put ourselves in a position to win. We got beat by a good basketball team that did what they did well, especially [Marshae] Dotson, and [Sha] Brooks. They just had their way with us today.”
On South Carolina's play in the 2nd half …
“When we came out I thought we turned the ball over a little too much and I thought we fouled a little bit too much and that set the tone for the rest of the half. They went to the free throw line and got us in the bonus early in the second half and it just took us a little while to get our motors running.”
On senior forward CJ. Pace's game-high seven rebounds …
“CJ Pace came out and gave us some energy and some fight. I think she did what a senior would do in that type of situation - try to get our team to fight with her. I thought our team won the hustle-point battle.”
-UF-
