Florida's Steffi Sorensen (Jacksonville, Fla.) entered Thursday's second overtime period against Auburn without having scored a point in the first 45 minutes of basketball. But, just like a shooter, that didn't deter Sorensen, who knew it was her time to step up. Sorensen put her team on her back, draining three 3-pointers in the first 2:53 of the second overtime to lift the Gators past Auburn, 71-68, in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
“I had been getting open looks and wasn't hitting,” Sorensen said. “That's something I've been used to all season long. There's two ways to go about it – stop shooting and play scared or keep shooting. I kept shooting. I knew I had to step up because I wasn't losing this game and hadn't played all that well. It was kind of the prime opportunity to get it going.”
Florida (9-6, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), relinquished a 20-point first-half lead when the Tigers knotted the score at 52-52 at the end of regulation on a 3-pointer by Nicholle Thomas, who banked in a trey with less than three seconds remaining. The Gators trailed for the entire first overtime until a pair of free throws by sophomore center Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) with 12.1 seconds remaining tied the score at 58-all. Three treys by Sorensen in the first two minutes of the second extra period sparked Florida's final surge.
“I can't say how big of a win this is for our team,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “Obviously, it was huge. There were so many emotional highs and lows in the ballgame. The main thing is that we are 2-0. We protected our home court. We played some of our best basketball all year and a little bit short of that. It's SEC play and the end result is what really matters. I felt like our toughness is what sustained us. I'm just really, really proud of our team.”
Stewart turned in the finest performance of her young career, recording her first collegiate double-double with a career-high 21 points, a personal-best 11 rebounds in a career-high 40 minutes of action. Stewart was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and made three clutch baskets in the final five minutes of regulation. Additionally, she posted a career-best five blocks.
Senior guard Lonnika Thompson (New Orleans, La.) tied her season high with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, in a career-high 40 minutes of play, while senior forward Sharielle Smith (Bradenton, Fla.) chipped in 10 points and five boards.
Florida shot 36.4 percent (24-of-66) from the field in the game, but made 70 percent (14-of-20) of its free throws. Auburn connected on 32.9 percent (25-of-76) from the floor, making just 56.0 percent (14-of-25) of its charity shots. The Tigers also made just 4-of-16 3-point attempts.
Auburn won the battle of the boards 58-46 and led the category of points off turnovers, 22-15.
Florida took a 33-15 advantage into the locker room at intermission after limiting Auburn to just 18.5 percent (5-of-27) shooting and just five field goals in the opening period. The Gators connected on 35.3 percent (12-of-34) of their shots, but committed just six turnovers in the opening frame. The 15 points marked the fewest UF has allowed in an opening half since the Gators outscored Alabama State 48-14 in the opening period on Dec. 28, 2006.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the game, as Auburn was led by guard Morgan Toles, who scored each of her squad's first seven points. Florida jumped out to an 18-7 advantage at the 10:44 mark after five consecutive baskets, including three consecutive hoops by freshman Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) to cap the run. After a basket by the Tigers stopped UF's scoring spree, the Gators followed with six consecutive points to extend their advantage to 24-9 with 9:15 left until intermission. That was the spark to a 15-8 run that Florida used to close out the opening half.
Both teams struggled to find their shooting touches to begin the second half, resulting in the squads trading baskets for much of the early part of the final frame. Trailing 38-19 with 17:20 remaining in the game, Auburn scored five consecutive points to whittle its deficit down to 14, 38-24.
After a Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) 3-pointer at the 14:10 mark, Auburn rattled off three points, forcing Butler to burn a timeout with 12:09 left and the Gators leading by 14, 41-27. Strong play, including success from the free-throw line by the Tigers' KeKe Carrier allowed Auburn to whittle its deficit down to nine, 43-34, with 9:34 remaining in the game. That last Carrier basket was the start of an 11-0 run by the Tigers that put them in front 43-42 with 5:10 left. That was just the start of the late-game rollercoaster for both teams.
“I've got to give Auburn a lot of credit for the fight they came out with in the second half, the adjustments their coaches made and their intensity level that we didn't match,” Butler said. “I'm just thankful that with as many hard lessons as there were in that game, we didn't have to learn that way with a losing effort.”
Carrier led the way for Auburn (9-6, 0-2 SEC) with 24 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes of play. That feat was especially impressive after the 6-foot-7 senior scored just two first-half points.
Florida returns to action on Sunday when it travels to Athens, Ga., to take on No. 8 Georgia (16-0, 2-0 SEC). Tip-off in Stegman Coliseum is slated for 6 p.m. ET and the game will be carried live on ESPNU and WBXY-FM (The Star 99.5 FM) in Gainesville.
POST-GAME NOTES
? Florida has now charted its first four-game winning streak of the 2009-10 campaign.
? UF is now 16-15 all-time in overtime contests. Thursday's win was Florida's first overtime game since Dec. 16, 2007 vs. TCU (W, 80-76).
? The Gators have tallied at least one 3-pointer in 74 consecutive games dating back to the 2007-08 season.
? The 15 points the Gators allowed in the opening period marked the fewest UF has allowed in an opening half since the Gators outscored Alabama State 48-14 in the opening period on Dec. 28, 2006.
? Florida used the starting lineup of Jordan Jones, Sharielle Smith, Steffi Sorensen, Azania Stewart and Lonnika Thompson for the seventh time this season and the sixth consecutive game. The Gators are 5-2 with the current starting five.
? Sophomore center Azania Stewart recorded her first collegiate double-double with a career-high 21 points and a personal-best 11 rebounds in a career-high 40 minutes of action. Stewart was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and made three clutch baskets in the final five minutes of regulation
? Sophomore guard Jordan Jones has hit at least one 3-pointer in each of the team's 15 games this season. It is tied for the sixth-longest streak in UF history. It's also part of a 26-game streak that dates back to Jones' freshman year at South Carolina.
? Senior guard Lonnika Thompson tied her season high with 12 points in the game.
? Thompson has at least one steak in 12 consecutive games (career high seven).
? Steffi Sorensen is the only Gator who has started every game this season.
? Sorensen eclipsed the 400-point plateau for her career and now has 408 career points.
? Senior guard Jennifer Mossor tallied three points in the game and is now four points shy of 500 for her career.
? The Gators and Tigers met for the 45th time in the history of the two programs. Auburn leads the all-time series between the two teams 30-15. It is tied for the fourth-longest rivalry in school history.
POST-GAME QUOTES
FLORIDA HEAD COACH AMANDA BUTLER
“I can't say how big of a win this is for our team. Obviously, it was huge. There were so many emotional highs and lows in the ballgame. The main thing is that we are 2-0. We protected our home court. We played some of our best basketball all year and a little bit short of that. It's SEC play and the end result is what really matters. I felt like our toughness is what sustained us. I'm just really, really proud of our team.”
On Auburn rallying from a 20-point first-half deficit …
“I've got to give Auburn a lot of credit for the fight they came out with in the second half, the adjustments their coaches made and their intensity level that we didn't match. I'm just thankful that with as many hard lessons as there were in that game, we didn't have to learn that way with a losing effort.”
On Auburn's halftime adjustments …
“They made great adjustments and that's what halftime's for. Obviously, our game plan at halftime was to try to stay the course and do the things we were doing. One of the things we did not do well and Auburn dictated was that we didn't control the tempo like we needed to. In the first half, we really took charge of how fast the ball was going up and down the floor. It was a tremendous battle and one you hate for a team to lose at the end because all of the kids fought so hard.”
On Auburn's KeKe Carrier …
“She didn't play as much in the first half and that was a by-product of us dictating the tempo. We wanted the game to be fast and run from baseline to baseline, so that it would be a little bit more difficult for her to maintain. She played a lot more minutes in the second half and did a great job. She's a tremendous athlete. She has great hands aside from obvious strength and size. She really has good feet as well and just an amazing game.”
#13 Azania Stewart, So., C
On her match-up with Auburn's KeKe Carrier …
“She's a big body to start with. We just talked about early defense and tried to work her out of the paint. She's less effective out there. I just tried to belly up underneath and give her a tough shot. She's great underneath the basket.”
On playing a career-high 40 minutes …
“We just needed the energy. We wanted to keep our sprits high and had to keep it up. If I have to play 40 minutes to do it, so be it.”
#10 Steffi Sorensen, Sr., G
On her three 3-pointers in the second overtime …
“There was no secret to it. I was getting open looks and wasn't hitting. That's something I'm used to all season long. There's two ways to go about it – stop shooting and play scared or keep shooting. I kept shooting. I knew I had to step up because I wasn't losing this game and hadn't played all that well. It was kind of the prime opportunity to get it going.”
AUBURN HEAD COACH NELL FORTNER
On the game. . .
“It was definitely a disappointing loss for us, a disappointing first half. It was just not a good way to come out and play a ballgame. I thought we fought back hard, but just could not finish it off.”
On what was different between the first and second half...
“I guess we woke up in the second half and decided we wanted to play. I thought that was the difference.”
On what the team did differently...
“Kids have to decide they want to play and that they want to compete. I guess they decided they wanted to compete in the second half. That was a lot to overcome in one half. We have some limitations and there is not a lot of room for mistakes, not a big margin of error for us. We have eight players and everyone has to bring what they bring and we have to be consistent with that. In the second half, we some more of what we expect out of them but we have to get more consistency.”
-UF-
