Florida fought until the final minute of the game, but it wasn't enough as the Gators fell to top-seeded and fourth-ranked Tennessee, 92-75, in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena Friday afternoon.
The Gators, who notched consecutively four impressive victories entering the game, showed marked improvements in Friday's contest compared with the two regular-season meetings against the Lady Vols, who won 83-40 decision in Gainesville on January 13 and the 61-39 outing in Knoxville on February 10.
Florida's 75 points and its 43.9 percent field goal effort were the second-most points and second-highest field goal percentage by a Lady Vols' opponent this season.
The Gators were within nine points with 2:37 remaining, but the Lady Vols converted 7-of-8 free throws the rest of the way to quell Florida's comeback efforts.
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“Obviously , I'm really, really proud of our fight tonight. We couldn't fight harder than we did,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “I told the team in the locker room, there were a lot of things we could have done better, but there's no way we could have fought any harder than we did.
“However, we didn't just come here to put up a good fight,” Butler continued. “We're disappointed we lost. We feel we're playing our best basketball right now, feel good about our team going forward. We hope we get the opportunity to show that we're one of the best teams in the country.”
Florida now awaits word of its postseason fate. The NCAA Tournament and WNIT fields will be revealed on Monday, March 14.
With an NCAA RPI of No. 50 and a strength of schedule rated No. 19 entering the SEC Tournament, either postseason tournament remains a possibility for the Gators, who won seven games away from home and scored wins against Vanderbilt on the road and at home versus Georgia in their final two regular-season games, while squaring off against Tennessee three times.
Florida had five players record a double-figure scoring effort for the second consecutive night, as Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored 14 points, Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) and Deana Allen (Houma, La.) accounted for 13 each, Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) added 12 and Jordan Jones (Suwanee, Ga.) tallied 10 points.
After not having five players hit double-figures in a game since Feb. 26, 2006, the Gators have done it in back-to-back games.
The Gators (18-14) trailed by just two points at halftime, but the Lady Vols began the second half on one of their patented runs that began when Glory Johnson, who ended the game with a career-high 25 points, scored six consecutive points in less than a minute and a half and forced Florida to call a timeout.
Jones ended the run with a three-pointer from the left side and the Gators traded buckets for the next three minutes, before the Lady Vols staged a 7-0 spurt and extended its lead to 56-42.
Both teams again exchanged scores before UT knocked down consecutive ones and took a 17-point advantage with 10:51 on the clock.
Florida continued to battle and responded with a jumper from Madu and another trey from Jones and cut the deficit to 63-51 with 9:56 to play.
Between those Gator buckets, however, junior center Azania Stewart (Wood Green, England) was whistled for her fifth personal foul. Eight seconds after Jones' bucket, forward Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) fouled out and Florida's inside game became extremely lean, as Madu was already playing with three personals.
Despite the inside troubles, the Gators continued to trade baskets and were within 74-62 with 5:26 left in regulation, before Tennessee scored the next five points and assumed their largest lead of the game, 80-62, with 4:18 to play.
The Gators had one last surge in them, as Bonds nailed a three-pointer and Allen accounted for five of the game's next six points and cut the deficit to 14 points.
Bonds then hit a pair of free throws and Bartley completed a three-point play with 2:37 remaining and had Florida within nine points, 83-74.
The Gators then had the shots they wanted, but missed a handful of short-range buckets and were forced to foul to get the ball back.
Tennessee (29-2) stepped up and made 7-of-8 from the free throw line the rest of the way en route to its 20th consecutive win.
“No, I didn't really feel like we were tired,” Butler said. “Obviously we were having a hard time trying to manage the foul calls, our rotations, trying to keep the right people on the floor, trying to stay aggressive but stay out of harm's way. That's where we seemed to struggle. I didn't feel like fatigue was ever a factor. They're a great team. Glory is just fantastic. She's a very hard match-up for anyone. You try to zone or try to man them up. The thing we wanted to be consistent with was our fight and effort, and I thought we did that pretty well. I didn't feel like we ever got tired. I felt like our team was ready to go, whatever was next.”
Shekinna Stricklen was the only other UT player to net a double-figure scoring effort, adding 10 points in 34 minutes, while Johnson collected 11 rebounds to help the Lady Vols earn the 40-32 advantage on the boards.
Tennessee shot a sizzling 69.2 percent (18-26) from the floor during the second half, when it outscored Florida, 54-39.
The Gators shot 43.9 percent (29-66) overall, with a 6-of-17 effort from the three-point arc and 11-of-18 from the three throw line, where the Lady Vols connected on 25 of their 36 attempts.
The teams played even ball for the first 3:13 of the game and with the difference being a Tennessee three-pointer, the Gators marched off a 7-0 spurt and took a 13-9 lead with 13:37 remaining.
The Lady Vols came right back with the next five points of the game, before Brittany Shine (Sacramento, Calif.) down a three-pointer and had Florida back on top, 16-14.
Tennessee then sank back-to-back treys that started a 16-6 run and gave the Lady Vols a 30-20 lead with 6:45 on the clock.
The teams traded buckets for the next minute and a half and with UT holding a 33-24 advantage, Florida ripped off a 10-0 run with five points from Bartley, two from Madu and a three-pointer from Allen, who pulled up deep in transition and brought the Gators within one, 35-34, with 2:38 remaining in the half.
Sticklen halted the Gator run with a three-point play, but Allen converted a layup with four seconds on the clock and ended the half with Florida trailing 38-36.
Both teams attempted 31 field goals in the first half, with Florida actually converting two more, but Tennessee hit two more treys and four more free throws for the difference in scoring. The Lady Vols also held a 21-16 rebounding edge, turning eight offensive boards into nine points.
Madu, Bartley and Allen each recorded nine point during the half for the Gators, who shot 48.4 percent (15-31) from the floor.
Johnson led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, six coming from the free throw line for UT, which hit 41 percent (13-31) of its shots.
FLORIDA NOTES
· Florida is now 18-14 on the season, 16-31 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
· The Gators have met Tennessee in three of the last four seasons in the SEC quarterfinals, falling each time.
· After being a team of runs in its first round game, Florida had a 9-0 run to come within a point of the lead in the with 2:38 left in the first half.
· Florida had three players foul out, Jennifer George at the 9:48 mark of the second half, Azania Stewart at 10:10, and Ndidi Madu at 5:22
· Florida attacked early in the first half, forcing four early turnovers and holding a 16-14 lead at the second media timeout on a three-pointer by Brittany Shine at 11:37.
· Junior guard Jordan Jones' 10 points put her in double figures for the 14th time this season and the 48th time for her career.
· Florida had five players in double-figures for the second consecutive game, with the March 3 occurrence the first since Feb. 6, 2006
TENNESSEE NOTES
· Tennessee is now 29-2 on the season, 64-17 all-time in the SEC Tournament and will advance to play the South Carolina-Georgia winner in Saturday's semifinals.
· The Lady Vols advance to the semifinals for the 18th consecutive season, last losing in the second round in 1993 and is 28-4 all-time in SEC Tournament second round games.
· Tennessee is now 8-0 all-time against UF in the SEC Tournament, 43-3 overall against the Gators.
· Junior forward Glory Johnson scored a career-best 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her 11 double-double of the season and 21st of her career. She made a career-high 11 (of 16) free throws. She made the first three baskets of the second half.
· Senior guard Angie Bjorklund made all three of her three-point attempts to score nine points, and has made seven consecutive three-pointers dating back to the LSU game on Feb. 27
· Johnson opened the second half with three straight baskets including a long two-point jumper, putting UT up 44-36 and forcing Florida head coach Amanda Butler to use a timeout just one-minute, 30 seconds into the second half.
· The win today gives UT 20 straight wins since its loss at Baylor on Dec. 14. It's the seventh time all-time the Lady Vols have won 20 straight contests and ties for the fifth-most consecutive victories in Tennessee history.
· Junior guard Shekinna Stricklen scored 20 points, her third 20-point game this season and 12th straight game scoring in double-figures.
· Tennessee won the rebounding battle 40-32, points in the paint 50-30, and second-chance points 18-8.
