GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Ronni Williams' team-leading 12 points weren't enough to help Florida top No. 1-ranked South Carolina's squad, which featured three players scoring in double figures, as the Gators fell to a dominant Gamecocks team, 77-42, Monday evening in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Gators got on the board first as the Gamecocks struggled to make their shots fall in the first few minutes, but South Carolina found its rhythm and strung together an 11-0 run, shooting 5-for-5 from the field during that span, to make it an 11-2 game at the 14:25 mark in the opening half. Despite a slow start, the Gamecocks seemingly couldn't miss a shot once they got rolling, hitting 11 consecutive attempts across a 7:45 stint. The home team shot a cold 18 percent during that same time frame and would never recover.
Florida attempted 37 shots compared to South Carolina's 25 through the first 20 minutes, but the Gators managed to hit just eight shots (21.6%), while the Gamecocks sunk 17 (68.0%).
The home team entered the locker room trailing 40-17.
The scoring to open the second stanza was back and forth through the first 4:58, but the visitors significantly widened the gap after an 18-2 run over 4:02, shooting an efficient 8-for-10 during that streak, and placed the game further out of Florida's reach.
South Carolina shot 59.3% (32-for-54) for the game, while Florida managed to hit just 27.1% of its season-high 70 shots attempted (19-for-70).
Redshirt senior Kayla Lewis led the Gators on the glass for the second consecutive contest, collecting eight boards.
South Carolina's leading scorer, Tiffany Mitchell, led the charge for the Gamecocks with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including 1-for-1 from behind the arc. Mitchell ranks third in the Southeastern Conference in scoring and entered tonight's contest averaging 15.1 points per game.
Updated Records: Florida 9-10, 1-5 SEC … South Carolina 18-0, 6-0 SEC
Turning Point:
· Sophomore Ronni Williams scored the game's first bucket with a layup at the 18:19 mark, but South Carolina answered with an 11-0 run and never looked back. The Gamecock lead grew to as many as 24 in the first half, which proved to be too large of a deficit to overcome.
Series Update:
· Despite tonight's loss, UF holds a 20-14 all-time record against the Gamecocks.
· South Carolina now has a six-game win streak in the series.
· The Gators last defeated the Gamecocks on January 9, 2011, in Columbia, 65-63.
Numbers of Note:
· South Carolina's bench outscored UF's, 47-23
· Florida turned the ball over 15 times, which led to 20 USC points
· The Gamecocks won the points in the paint battle, 46-26
· The Gators attempted a season-high 70 shots from the field
· UF dropped to 0-11 all-time against the No. 1-ranked team
Individuals:
· Junior January Miller netted her 650th career point and her 250th rebound in the second half
· Freshman Brooke Copeland scored her 100th career point in the final minute of tonight's contest
· Redshirt junior Viktorija Dimaite entered the having played just 2+ minutes in three career SEC games, but tonight saw 10 minutes of action, blocked one shot and collected one steal
Double-Figures:
· Ronni Williams (12) was the lone Gator to score in double-figures
· Her 12 points marked her team-leading 12th double-figure scoring game this year and 26th of her career
Streaks:
· Carla Batchelor connected on a three-pointer at the 9:05 mark of the second half, extending the Gators' consecutive games with a trey streak to 149.
· Cassie Peoples hit an outside jumper with 52 seconds remaining to net her only points but extend her consecutive games-scoring streak to a team-leading 29
Starters:
· Kayla Lewis made her 80th career start and 52nd consecutive
· Carlie Needles recorded her 50th career start
· Cassie Peoples notched her 42nd career start
· Haley Lorenzen appeared in the starting lineup for the 13th time in her career
· Brooke Copeland made her fourth career start
· The Gators used their eighth different starting lineup of the year
Quotes from the Court:
UF Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening Statement:
“Obviously we are super disappointed by the way we played. South Carolina is a great team. Dawn [Staley] has done a fantastic job, and they deserve their ranking. It's exciting to have the No. 1 team in our league again, but we didn't bring the effort to match playing the No. 1 team. It's really disappointing. We really battled in spots and certain individuals battled, but across the board, we didn't bring the fight or preparation that I saw for three days in practice. I thought we had some really great days of practice and I was proud of our effort, but it didn't translate into game success.”
On South Carolina's transition game:
“We gave up a lot of points in transition and that was just panicking and not relying on our communication, and our structure and the things we have practiced. We gave them a lot of really easy looks in transition. We weren't communicating, getting back, stopping the ball or really anything in transition. Some of the half-court things we knew they were going to pound the ball inside, so we knew we needed good ball pressure and good awareness on help side. It just wasn't consistent; it was only there in spots.”
UF Sophomore Ronni Williams
On moving on from the loss…
“We have to learn from this [game]. We practiced hard this week like Coach Butler said, and for us to come out and play the way we did, it's not good. We have to come back in the gym and work hard again, but next time bring it on the court for our next opponent.
South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
On staying unbeaten after another road win:
“I thought our team came out and was extremely focused and played with a lot of energy - something that you need to get a win in the SEC on the road. I thought our offense looked a lot more fluid and loose and got up and down the floor and got some easy buckets and that did not put so much pressure on our half court sets. It looked good and it felt good, too.”
On the key to the team's start this year:
“The key is all season long we've had great leadership. Our seniors who have you know, who know the rigors of the SEC, have a hunger. They want do well, they want to take this team as far as it can go. The way you do that is you have some success in this league. We know if you're successful in this league, it does translates to outside our league.”
Next Gator Game:
What: Florida (9-10, 1-5 SEC) hosts Arkansas (11-6, 1-4 SEC)
When: Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 12 p.m.
Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center * Gainesville, Fla.
TV: ESPNU
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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