Carlie Needles scored 10 points on her 22nd birthday and led a balanced scoring effort where five Gators scored nine or more points in Florida's 59-54 victory over Stetson on Sunday afternoon at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
UF took control of the game early when a Kayla Lewis layup started a 15-0 run for the home team, building a 19-8 lead. The momentum-gaining run started at the 17:04 mark of the first half and lasted nearly seven minutes.
After the under eight-minute media timeout in the first half, Florida led, 24-13. The visiting Hatters tried to climb back into the contest, attempting three-pointers on three-consecutive possessions and making two, but Florida answered with a Needles' trey to maintain a 27-19 advantage.
Behind their outside shooting and 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe, the Hatters continued to battle and shrink the Gators' lead, ending the half on a 12-5 run and trailed UF, 32-28, at intermission.
The Gators were dominant in the paint, outscoring the Hatters, 16-6, down low and outrebounding the visitors, 27-17, in the first half.
The Gators' post defense was particularly stingy in the first half, as Stetson shot just 25% (3-for-12) on shots inside the three-point line.
In the second half, Florida continued to force Stetson to take shots from downtown and the Hatters attempted five treys by the 13:24 mark of the second half. After a trey by Myeisha Hall that cut UF's lead to 36-35, Stetson's Jama Sharp drove the lane and converted a layup and drew a foul for an and-one attempt. Sharp missed the free throw attempt, but her layup gave the visitors their first lead, 37-36, of the contest since the 15:53 mark in the first.
Stetson nailed two more shots to increase its lead to 41-36, but Florida exploded on a 15-0 run, going to work down low, scoring six buckets in the paint. The run lasted less than seven minutes and UF regained the lead, 51-41.
Just as they had done earlier in the game, the Hatters would not go away after a momentum-changing Gator run. Led by Hall and Sharp, Stetson used baskets from its two players to climb within six, 53-47, with 3:52 remaining in the contest.
With Florida clinging to a three-point lead, 53-50, with 1:50 left in the game. Lewis earned a trip to the free throw line after attempting a put-back try after pulling down one of her team-leading and season-high 15 rebounds. With her team needing a basket to distance themselves from Stetson, Lewis converted one of the two shots, giving Florida a four-point advantage.
The four-point lead was too much for the Hatters to overcome down the stretch, as Florida rode five free throws by Cassie Peoples to close the game.
After ending their three-game skid, the Gators will have a week layoff for final exams and return to the court next Sunday against Southern U. at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 21 in the Gator Holiday Classic.
· Postgame Press Conference Video (FREE): Head coach Amanda Butler, Kayla Lewis and Carlie Needles from GatorVision: http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3603311&db_oem_id=6500
· Game Video Recap (FREE): http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3603304&db_oem_id=6500
Updated Records:
· Florida: 6-4
· Stetson: 7-3
Turning Point:
· Florida used a 15-0 run late in the second half to pull ahead of Stetson for good. The Gators are now 2-3 in games decided by 10 points or less this season.
Stat Line of the Game:
· Carlie Needles was the Gators' highest scorer of the day with 10 points, knocking down two three-pointers and also adding seven rebounds. She is now one trey away from securing the seventh-place spot in program history in career threes.
Series Update:
· The Gators improved to 24-3 in the all-time series against Stetson and extended its win streak against the Hatters to 14 games.
· Florida and Stetson last met on Nov. 14, 2011, in Gainesville, with the Gators taking the victory 71-57.
· Stetson's most recent win over Florida came on Nov. 29, 1988 in DeLand. The Hatters defeated the Gators 75-67.
Numbers of Note:
· Florida outrebounded Stetson 47-39 in today's contest.
· The Gators' bench contributed 20 points to the Hatters' 8.
· In the paint, Florida also came out on top, scoring 30 points while Stetson managed 20.
· UF scored 25 points off 26 Stetson turnovers.
Double-Figures:
· Carlie Needles' 10 points today helped her to her fourth double-figure scoring game of the season.
· Kayla Lewis totaled 15 rebounds in today's game, marking her 20th double-figure rebounding game of her career and second this season.
Streaks:
· Carlie Needles' three-pointer with 14:36 remaining in the first half marked the Gators' 141st consecutive game with a trey.
Individuals:
· Kayla Lewis' eight rebounds in the first half are the most by a Gator in that half this season, breaking Carlie Needles' record of seven.
· Lewis played in the 99th game of her career
· Needles and Miller both played in the 80th game of their respective careers
Numbers to Start:
· Ronni Williams tallied her 23rd career start
· January Miller made her 28th career start
· Kayla Lewis recorded her 69th career start and 42nd consecutive as a Gator. Today also marked her 100th career game.
· Carlie Needles appeared in the starting lineup for the 42nd time in her career.
· Cassie Peoples made her 34th start
Quotes from the Court:
UF Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening Statement:
“I'm really proud of our overall effort. Stetson is a really good team—I think they're a postseason team. They were coached well and had a great game plan coming in. One of our former managers is an assistant coach [for Stetson]. They knew a lot of the things we were going to do, and I think it was great for us to have to overcome that.”
On defending Stetson:
“I think we did better in the second half. I still don't think we were exceptional with it. We had a higher sense of awareness of where (Myeisha) Hall was. She's a great shooter. We didn't do a good job of thinking and anticipating the next pass.”
UF Redshirt Senior Guard Kayla Lewis
On getting rebounds to create second-chance points:
“You give your team another chance to score. Getting more rebounds gives us the ball more. It's like in football where if you have more time of possession, you're more likely to win. With rebounding in basketball, you want to give your team as many chances to score as you can.”
UF Redshirt Junior Guard Carlie Needles
On her improved play today:
“For starters, we had Cassie [Peoples] out there with us today. I thought Cassie did a really good job setting the tone in the first half. She's a great player to play with—she gives us a lot of energy, and she passes the ball well. It was good to have Cassie, and it was a big thing for us to start off with a lot of energy. Like Kayla said, we were getting more opportunities to score. She did an awesome job on rebounding. All around, we improved a lot from the last game. There was still a lull in the second half that we need to fix.”
Stetson Head Coach Lynn Bria
Opening statement:
“If you keep having what I call those bonehead turnovers, that doesn't help your team win any ball games, so it's really disappointing.”
On being outrebounded, 47-39:
“We did emphasize that and talk about that at halftime, that they were hurting us on the boards. But again, if you're coughing up the ball, then there's no rebounds. The key to the game was the turnovers. I thought they were critical; I thought they were live ball turnovers. They got run out. They got layups. I thought our defense was good. We were back there. I thought our rebounding in the second half was good, but when they're getting layups, it's hard.”
Next Game:
· What: Gator Holiday Classic presented by Honda of Gainesville, Dec. 21-22
· Tournament Schedule
o Sun., Dec. 21: 12 Noon – Eastern Washington vs. Georgia Southern; 2:30 p.m. – Southern U vs. Florida
o Mon., Dec. 22: 12 Noon – Southern U. vs. TBA; 2:30 p.m. – Florida vs. TBA
· Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center * Gainesville, Fla.
Additional Hoopla for December 21
· Gator Holiday Classic T-shirt Giveaway - The first 500 fans receive a free 2014 Gator Holiday Classic T-shirt
· Alberta Picture Taking Station - Alberta will be available for pictures in a Winter Wonderland setting!
· Gingerbread Cookie Station - Kids 12 & under can decorate their own gingerbread cookies.
· High-Five Tunnel - Kids 12 & under have the opportunity to high-five the Gators as they enter the court.
· Toys for Tots - Fans who donate a new, unused toy to Toys for Tots will receive free admission to the game
For all of the latest information on Florida women's basketball:
Official Website: www.gatorzone.com/basketball/women
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FloridaWomensBasketball
Twitter: @GatorZoneWBK and @CoachButlerUF
Instagram: @gatorzonewbk
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