Florida trailed by 12 points with 6:12 remaining and rallied to tie the score with 63 seconds left, however, it wasn't enough as Ole Miss hung on for the 61-59 win in the O'Connell Center Thursday evening.
The Rebels converted 3-of-4 free throws in the final 10.1 seconds to secure the victory and snap their two-game losing streak, while halting the Gators' two-game winning run.
"I think Ole Miss came out right from the beginning and set the tone,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “They did a great job of being ready for us. We are generally a decent rebounding team even though we didn't look like that tonight. They never gave up the lead. They got up at the beginning and never gave it up. I think that had a whole lot to do with our start and I thought we were very flat, but the most disappointing aspect is to be out-rebounded like we were."
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The Gators (14-10, 4-6 SEC) lost the rebounding battle for only the fifth time this season and it has cost them every time, as the Rebels held the 40-32 advantage on the boards and snapped Florida's two-game win streak.
"I thought that [rebounding] was the deciding factor in the game,” Butler said. “Their offensive rebounding sustained them offensively. When they weren't hitting shots and taking some of the shots we wanted them to shoot in the half court, they got themselves second shots. That is how they were scoring points. In particular, their post players did a great job and just crushed our post players on the inside. You just have to give all that credit to Ole Miss for being the hungrier team today."
Ole Miss (10-11, 3-6 SEC), which collected 16 offensive boards, was led by freshman guard Valencia McFarland, who scored a game-high 20 points, hitting 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Fellow freshman Pa'Sonna Hope collected a game-high 10 rebounds along with 14 points, the final three coming in the last 37 seconds of the game.
Freshman Brittany Shine (Sacramento, Calif.) led Florida with 12 points, as she hit 5-of-9 from the floor. Sophomore Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) added 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting with a team-best nine rebounds for the Gators, who committed a season-low nine turnovers but shot just 37.0 percent from the floor, including a 7-of-22 effort from the three-point arc. Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) tallied nine points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) chipped in 10 points for Florida, which played its 15th of 24 games this season decided by 10 or fewer points. Thursday's two-point outcome was the 10th time this year the Gators had a game decided by six or fewer points.
Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) stole the in-bounds pass, dribbled the length of the court and converted the layup to begin the second half, as she cut Florida's halftime deficit to four, 30-26.
UM hit one free throw before the Gator's seventh turnover of the game resulted in another field goal for the guests, who took a 33-26 lead.
George put back an offensive rebound for the Gators, before Shine knocked down her second three-pointer of the contest and had Florida within two points, 33-31, with 15:24 remaining.
Ole Miss crashed the offensive boards and eventually cashed with a pair of free throws and another short bucket to take a six-point lead with 13:12 on the clock.
Bartley came right back by hitting UF's fifth trey of the contest and had the Gators within three, 37-34.
UF had a few more chances to cut into the deficit, but couldn't connect from a couple of long range attempts and as the Gators crashed the offensive boards hard, UM collected a miss and tossed the ball down the court for an easy two.
The Rebels extended their lead to six with a driving layup from Shae Nelson, but George came back with a bucket.
After another field goal from Valencia McFarland, Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) sank a three-pointer and had Florida back within three, 43-40, with 9:30 to play.
Nelson answered with a trey for UM and Pa'Sonna Hope sank the next two field goals that put the Gators in a 10-point hole with 7:12 remaining. McFarland made it a 9-0 run after her 5-footer and gave UM a 52-40 lead with 6:12 on the clock.
George finally ended the spree with an athletic bucket inside, but McFarland struck again.
Bartley hit one free throw, Stewart connected on one from inside and George hit another move for a bucket giving Florida consecutive scores for only the second time in the half, but brought the Gators within seven, 54-47, with 4:06 remaining.
Bartley drove the lane and missed the bucket, but connected on two free throws with 3:02 on the clock and Florida crept closer, 54-49.
After a defensive stop, Stewart put back a tough offensive rebound and the Gators were within three, 54-51 with 2:24 to go.
McFarland then added two free throws to stop UF's 9-0 run, but Bartley hit one from the charity stripe and the Gators cut the deficit to four, 56-52 with 1:33 remaining.
Jones then came up with a steal on the inbounds and fed George, who completed the three-point play with 1:19 on the clock and had the Gators within one, 56-55.
Bartley then picked Shae Nelson's pocket and dribbled the length of the court and put up a short shot, which she missed but made one of two free throws and tied the game with 63 seconds remaining.
UM came back and Hope found herself open under the basket for a two-footer with 37 seconds remaining and gave UM a 58-56 lead.
The Gators worked their next possession and Bonds' three-point attempt was off the mark. Nelson collected the rebound and was immediately fouled. Nelson calmly hit both ends of the one-and-one with 10.1 seconds on the clock to give the Rebels a 60-56 lead.
Deana Allen (Houma, La.) then stepped up and nailed a three-pointer that brought the Gators back within one, 60-59, with 4.5 seconds remaining.
The Gators immediately fouled on the in-bounds and Hope hit the first, missed the second and George came up with the rebound, but Bartley's shot from three-quarter's of the court length was short and Ole Miss held on for its second road win of the year.
“It's a battle,” UM head coach Renee Ladner said. “We started February off and I told them this is an opportunity. We have the opportunity now that we can play some games and get some wins on the road, so this was a big game for our kids. We are 1-0 in February and we are going to try and take this momentum into the next one. The next one is just as hard, and the next one is just as hard. I felt that tonight we had some great balance but for the most part, they stayed the course and you could just see it. They stayed the course and they drove it.”
Valencia McFarland completed a three-point play and Kayla Melson followed with a jumper and Ole Miss jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead.
Florida came right back, as Jones scored the next five points and tied the game, but Shae Nelson answered with a deep trey with the shot clock winding down.
Stewart put back an offensive rebound, but McFarland canned a 16-footer to keep the Rebels ahead, 10-7.
Bartley kept up the frantic pace and converted a driving layup that again brought Florida within one with 13:43 remaining in the opening frame.
Neither team could convert on its next couple of possessions, as Florida's shot wouldn't fall and the Rebels held true to their zone defense.
Nelson again nailed a deep three-pointer and Melson followed with a jumper in the paint and a driving layup and gave Ole Miss a 17-9 lead wtih10:17 to go and forced the Gators to call a timeout.
Shine halted the 7-0 Rebel run with a three-pointer from the left side, but UM came right back with an offensive rebound putback, holding a slim rebounding edge.
Stewart countered with a short shot inside, before she grabbed a defensive board and found Shine on the wing, who took the ball the length of the court for the lay-in.
UF's defense again rose to the challenge, as Bonds collected a steal at the top of the Gator's zone defense and outlet to a streaking Shine, who converted her second consecutive layup and cut the deficit to two, 19-17, with 6:44 on the clock and it was UM's turn to call a timeout.
The teams then traded scores, with Stewart banking in a four-footer and Bonds answering a three-point bucket to keep the Gators within two, 24-22, with 5:14 to play in the opening half.
Stewart corralled UM's miss on the next trip down the floor and Shine nailed an eight-footer in the paint and tied the score at 24-all with 4:09 on the clock. Unfortunately for the Gators, those were the last points they would score during the first half.
UM missed again on its next trip, but the Gators couldn't take the lead as they turned the ball over. McFarland then kept UM with the advantage by hitting a 10-footer as the shot clock neared zero. Pa'Sonna Hope then banked in a 15-footer from straight way with 2:13 remaining and the Rebels tacked on two more points before the halftime horn sounded and took a 30-24 lead entering intermission.
Ole Miss held a slight edge with its shot, hitting 38.2 percent (13-34) compared to UF's 35.7 percent (10-28), and on the boards, where the Rebels held the 21-18 advantage, with seven of theirs coming on the offensive end.
Florida turned the ball over six times versus the three miscues by Ole Miss, but the visitors were able to convert the Gators' troubles into 12 points.
UF's 30-24 halftime deficit marked the third time in its last four home games when the Gators trailed after the first 20 minutes.
The Gators continue their two-game home stand on Sunday, when the team plays host to Vanderbilt in the O'Connell Center beginning at 1 p.m.
The game will be televised live by Comcast Sports South, which airs in Gainesville on Cox channel 259. The radio broadcast can be heard for the first time ever on Sirius/XM (Sirius 212 / XM 199), as well as in Gainesville on WBXY-FM 99.5 and in Jacksonville on WXFJ-AM 930, with free audio available through the internet at www.GatorZone.com, the official website of the Florida Gators.
POST-GAME NOTES
· Florida drops to 14-10 overall and 4-6 in the Southeastern Conference, while Ole Miss improves to 10-11 overall, 3-6 in league play.
· The Gators still lead the all-time series between the two teams 16-13, including a 7-7 tally when the game is played in Gainesville.
· Florida used the starting lineup of Lanita Bartley, Jaterra Bonds, Jordan Jones, Ndidi Madu and Azania Stewart for the seventh time this season and the second consecutive game. The Gators drop to 3-4 with the current starting lineup.
· Thursday's game was decided by two points marking the 15th time in the team's 24 games this season that Florida has had a game decided by 10 or fewer points. It was the 10th game this year for the Gators decided by six or fewer points.
· Florida lost the rebound battle for just the fifth time in 25 games this season, as Ole Miss held a 40-32 edge on the glass Thursday. The Gators are 0-5 this year when losing the battle of the boards.
· UF connected on seven three-pointers in the game – their second-most in an SEC game this season.
· Freshman guard Brittany Shine led the Gators in scoring with 12 points. It marked the fifth time this season that she has led Florida in the points column – the second-most times of any Gator in 2011.
· Junior center Azania Stewart blocked two shots in the game to give her 116 rejections for her career. She needs five more blocks to tie former Gator great Tammy Jackson for fifth place on the school's all-time list with 121 career blocks.
· Junior guard Lanita Bartley tallied 10 points in the game, marking the sixth time in her UF career that she has totaled double-figure points.
· Sophomore forward Jennifer George scored 11 points, marking the sixth time this season and the ninth time in her career she has scored 10 or more points. She also brought down a team-high nine rebounds. It marked the sixth time this season she has led her team in rebounding.
· Freshman guard Jaterra Bonds tied her career high with a game-high three steals. She also has charted three steals on two previous occasions, most recently against Harvard on Dec. 7.
POST-GAME QUOTES
FLORIDA HEAD COACH AMANDA BUTLER
"I think Ole Miss came out right from the beginning and set the tone. They did a great job of being ready for us. We are generally a decent rebounding team even though we didn't look like that tonight. They never gave up the lead - they got up at the beginning and never gave it up. I think that had a whole lot to do with our start and I thought we were very flat, but the most disappointing aspect is to be out-rebounded like we were."
On Ole Miss' offensive rebounding …
"I thought that was the deciding factor in the game. Their offensive rebounding sustained them offensively, and when they weren't hitting shots and taking some of the shots we wanted them to shoot in the half court, they got themselves second shots. That is how they were scoring points. In particular, their post players did a great job and just crushed our post players on the inside. You just have to give all that credit to Ole Miss for being the hungrier team today."
On deciding when to full-court press Ole Miss …
"We did go to it just in spots early on, it was just the adjustments their coaches were making. We were doing it throughout the ball game, just not consistently possession after possession, which is a very hard thing to do to anyone in this league. That was the one bright spot - to be able to turn to it in the game situation and create some plays and turnovers that put us in the position there at the end."
On Ole Miss freshman guard Valencia McFarland …
"I'm real sad she's a freshman and we are going to have to play against her for three more years because she is very talented and not just in her quickness, but I think she's a great decision maker and does a really good job of leading her team as a freshman."
FLORIDA PLAYERS
#33 Jordan Jones, Jr., G
On whether she felt it was Florida's turn to win a comeback game …
“It didn't really go through my head, but I thought we showed good fight in the end. But if we don't play for 40 minutes against an SEC team and [coach is] questioning us about not being up—there's no excuse for that. We have to come to play every night and we have a tough challenge coming ahead of us in Vanderbilt.”
On shooting a lot of outside shots …
“It's never part of our game plan to jack up a bunch of threes. They played zone, obviously, so I think we had some good looks, maybe some forced, but I think that's part of feeling the game. I know I took a lot — I wish I had some of those back, but I thought [Jennifer] George played great — she didn't miss a shot. We need to get her the ball more, because it is working.”
On how freshman Brittany Shine has the ability to take over games …
”Yeah, I think that's one of the great things about her. [Kayla] Melson is a great player and she's experienced, but Shine is young, she's fresh, she plays with fire and I think that's what we needed. She brought us a spark. She stepped up to the challenge to guard whoever is out there. If we didn't lose, we would be sitting here praising Shine right now; I thought she played great.”
#32 Jennifer George, So., F
On the screen she set at half court late in the game …
“That was just part of the drill, for me to set a screen on (Valencia) McFarland and pass it to Jordan (Jones). I was just running the play.”
On how Ole Miss' Nikki Byrd affected the game in her limited play …
“She was a big body, so she got position on us. Her rebounding was effective.”
#23 Brittany Shine, Fr., G
On if she wants to take over games when she sees the opponent doing so …
“It wasn't really about me trying to answer. I was trying to stop them from scoring. I was just trying to do what I could to stop them from scoring anymore.”
OLE MISS HEAD COACH RENEE LADNER
“We make it interesting. I guess that's just the way it's going to be the rest of the season. I was really proud of our effort across the board. I thought every player played really hard and our freshmen stepped up when Kayla [Melson] went out. That's a scary moment when your leader is not on the floor, but I saw a really good look in their eyes and I put two things on the board—if f we out-rebound them and have a low turnover margin, we should find a way to win the game today.”
On freshman forward Pa'Sonna Hope …
“She was outstanding. She came back in the second half, to start the second half, and kind of blanked out on me for a moment and then she reeled herself back in. I was extremely proud because Pa'Sonna is extremely unselfish. She will play for others and I think she played this one for Kayla [Melson] and next week it will be for someone else.”
On how to get her young players to believe …
“It's a battle. We started February off and I told them this is an opportunity. We have the opportunity now that we can play some games and get some wins on the road, so this was a big game for our kids. We are 1-0 in February and we are going to try and take this momentum into the next one. The next one is just as hard, and the next one is just as hard. I felt that tonight we had some great balance but for the most part, they stayed the course and you could just see it. They stayed the course and they drove it.”
