Senior Steffi Sorensen (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored 18 points on six three-pointers and led the University of Florida women's basketball team to a hard-fought 67-64 victory against Ole Miss at C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
Sorensen connected on 6-of-7 three pointers as part of the Gators' aerial attack from beyond the arc, as Florida hit 11-of-21 with four different players converting from deep.
Senior Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) added 11 points and five rebounds, while senior Lonnika Thompson (New Orleans, La.) tallied 11 points and five assists with three steals and sophomore Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) contributed 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots, as eight different Gators scored and helped Florida improve to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
The win marked the Gators' 10th game this season decided by single digits, with six of the team's seven Southeastern Conference games included in the total. Florida is 5-5 this season in games decided by less than 10 points, including a 5-2 record in league outings.
“It wasn't pretty and we turned the ball over in a lot of crucial situations, but we finally shot the ball like we know we're capable of and that felt really good,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “Ole Miss has a fantastic team and this is one of the toughest places to play in our league. I'm really proud of our toughness and how we gutted out another close win. We didn't hang our heads when things didn't go our way. We pushed back and showed a lot of resiliency.”
The final 15 minutes of the game were a battle, as Ole Miss whittled UF's 17-point first-half lead to one, 41-40, with 14:51 remaining. Florida regrouped quickly to take a six point lead, but Ole Miss came right back, eventually taking a two-point lead on three different occasions, the last time with 5:55 to play after Bianca Thomas nailed a three-pointer for Ole Miss, which hit 9-of-12 from behind the arc.
Neither team could score and both turned the ball over, before Sorensen nailed her sixth trey of the game with 2:25 remaining. Smith followed with her third three-pointer of the game, which was UF's 11th as a team, and put the Gators back up by four points, 65-61, with 1:15 on the clock.
Thomas, the Southeastern Conference's second-leading scorer, wouldn't go down quietly and nailed her fifth trey of the contest and brought Ole Miss within one, 65-64, with 57.8 seconds remaining.
Senior Jennifer Mossor (Orlando, Fla.) was driving the lane on UF's next offensive possession, but was whistled for her fifth personal foul and turned the ball back over to the Rebels, which missed on its next trip down the floor.
Ole Miss had compiled just three team fouls to that point and was forced to foul three straight times to send the Gators to the free throw line.
With just 14 seconds remaining, Stewart stepped to the line for the one-and-one and calmly sank both to provide the final scoring, as UM's final attempts at tying the score fell short.
In addition to her 18 points, Sorensen added a team-high six rebounds with five assists in 36 minutes of action.
“Steffi played exactly the way you want a senior guard to play,” Butler praised. “We've all know that she's capable of hitting six or seven three-pointers. She worked her tail off this week in practice and got up extra shots and she deserves this.”
Florida shot 48 percent in the game (24-50) and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line, while edging out the Lady Rebels on the boards, 31-30. The Gators did commit 21 turnovers, 16 in the second half, as UM was able to score 21 points off those miscues.
Florida committed six turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half that allowed Ole Miss to cut the Gators' 10-point halftime lead to one, as the Lady Rebels hit three three-pointers during a 13-4 run to begin the final frame.
Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) converted two free throws at the 14:45 mark of the second, which happened to UF's first trip to the line during the game, before Sorensen nailed her fourth three-pointer of the half that gave the Gators a 46-40 lead.
After one free throw, Elizabeth Robertson, who nailed the last two of those long-range shots during UM's half-opening spree, popped her fourth from deep and whittled UF's lead to two points with 12:02 to play.
Smith connected on two free throws, but Kayla Melson hit a driving layup and kept UM within one possession.
Sorensen's trey rattled out on UF's next trip down the floor and Melson came up with the rebound and found a Katorra Lewis alone at the other end of the floor, as she tied the game at 48-all with 10 minutes remaining.
Lonnika Thompson (New Orleans, La.) banked in a tough jumper that kept UF in lead, but Bianca Thomas and Melson scored the next four points of the game from the free throw line, as Melson's pair gave the Rebels a 52-50 lead with 8:26 to play.
Azania Stewart scored inside for the Gators, but Lewis putback an offensive rebound and had Ole Miss back on top, 54-52, with 7:45 on the clock.
Florida answered with a 5-0 run with a bucket from Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) and another three-pointer from Sorensen with 6:50 remaining that set the stage for the thrilling finale.
Ole Miss' Thomas led all scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Melson finished with 20 points for the Lady Rebels, who fell to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in SEC action. UM had entered the game tied for second in the league standings.
Ole Miss' Bianca Thomas started the game's scoring in a hurry, nailing a three-pointer eight seconds into the contest before UF's Lonnika Thompson answered with an eight-footer in the paint a few ticks later. Kayla Melson scored the next four points of the game on driving layups that gave the Rebels a 7-2 lead, forcing the Gators to call a timeout.
Florida hit just one of its first seven shots during the game, but hadn't committed a turnover and matched Ole Miss on the boards.
The Gators found their shot when Azania Stewart put back an offensive rebound and Thompson hit trey to even the score. The teams traded buckets, before Melson converted a three-point play and Thomas added one free throw to put the Rebels ahead by four, 13-9.
Steffi Sorensen then sparked the Gator offense, as she nailed a three-pointer from the top of the arc and ignited a 21-2 run that included five treys, with Sorensen hitting 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Jordan Jones and Sharielle Smith also nailed one from deep during the spree, while Jennifer Mossor hit from inside the arc.
Thomas ended the march with a three-pointer for Ole Miss, but Smith connected on her second trey of the half and Stewart followed with a bucket inside and pushed UF's lead to 17 points, 35-18, with 2:37 remaining in the period.
The Gators entered Sunday's game averaging the third-most three-pointers in the SEC, with the Lady Rebels leading the league and ranking as the second-most potent offensive unit and proceeded to show why, using the long ball to quickly spin a 9-2 run and reduce Florida's lead to 10 points by halftime, 37-27.
The 37 points were the most scored by the Gators during the first half in an SEC game this season and the 46.9 percent shooting mark was the highest against league foes during the opening period.
Seven different players contributed to a balanced scoring effort over the first 20 minutes for the Gators, who hit 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and 15-of-32 overall. Florida converted 11 Ole Miss turnovers into 16 points during that opening frame, when the Rebels shot 40 percent (10-25) from the floor, including a pair of treys. Melson scored a game-high 14 points during the first half for UM, which held an 18-15 rebounding edge.
The Gators begin a three-game homestand on Thursday, when they play host to Vanderbilt in the O'Connell Center beginning at 7 p.m. The radio broadcast of the game can be heard live in Gainesville on WBX-FM (The Star 99.5) and through the internet at www.GatorZone.com, which also will provide live streaming video of the contest courtesy of GatorVision.
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