Florida scored the first 14 points of the game and looked nearly flawless during the opening minutes of Friday evening's Southeastern Conference opener against LSU in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Lady Tigers, however, patiently roared and emerged with a 68-65 decision despite the 17-point effort from Gator redshirt senior Kayla Lewis, who was joined in double-figures by sophomore Ronni Williams (14 points) and redshirt junior Carlie Needles (10 point).
Florida seemingly set the tone for the game the minute they stepped foot on the court, opening the contest with a 14-0 run. The Gators converted seven early Tiger turnovers into 11 of those points and capped the run with an old fashioned three-point play from Cassie Peoples followed by a Brooke Copeland trey. LSU managed to put up its first points of the game at the 14:47 mark in the first half.
The Tigers came roaring back in the latter half of the first frame, however, earning their first advantage of the game at the 1:48 mark off a DaShawn Harden layup to finish off an 18-2 scoring streak. A pair of Lewis free throws pulled the Gators ahead, 30-28, with just 35 seconds remaining, but LSU's Raigyne Moncrief responded with a last second layup as the two teams entered the locker room tied at 30.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle, featuring seven lead changes. The Tigers seized control once Harden hit a corner three at the 8:41 mark, putting the visitors ahead, 53-48. LSU jumped out to its largest lead of the game, 59-52, following an Annie Pedersen jumper with 4:33 remaining in the game.
The Gators were able to pull within one when Peoples grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Needles who nailed her second three-pointer of the game with 29 seconds left, making it a 64-63 game in favor of the Tigers.
Harden put the Tigers back up by three, 66-63, after two made free throws at the 27-second mark, but two January Miller free throws with 16 seconds remaining reduced the LSU lead to one once again.
With time winding down, Florida was forced to foul and sent Harden to the line where she went two-for-two with 14 seconds on the clock when she capped her game-high 23-point performance and sealed the win. The Gators were unable to score on their final possession, giving LSU the final victory.
Up Next:
The Gators embark on their first conference road trip of the season, when they head to Auburn on Sunday, January 4 for a 4 p.m. matchup at Auburn Arena.
· UF Postgame Press Conference Video (FREE): Head coach Amanda Butler, Kayla Lewis and Ronni Williams from GatorVision: http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3640607&db_oem_id=6500
· Video Recap (FREE): http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3640903&db_oem_id=6500
Updated Records:
· Florida: 8-6 (0-1 SEC)
· LSU: 7-6 (1-0 SEC)
Key Moment:
· LSU's DaShawn Harden nailed two free throws to give LSU a 66-63 lead with 14 seconds remaining in the game. The free throws came after a Carlie Needles' three-pointer that brought Florida within one point of the Tigers.
Series Update:
· With tonight's loss, the Gators dropped their all-time series record against LSU to 12-26.
Numbers of Note:
· UF dropped to 16-17 all-time in Southeastern Conference openers
· The Gators opened the game forcing seven turnovers and built a 14-0 lead through the first six minutes of play.
· UF led by as many as 15 points with 12:17 remaining in the first half.
· Florida forced 24 LSU turnovers, resulting in 16 points
· UF scored 36 points compared to LSU's 24
· There were nine lead changes and three tied scores.
Double-Figures:
· Kayla Lewis (17), Ronni Williams (14) and Carlie Needles (10) scored in double figures
· Williams netted her team-leading fourth consecutive game in double figures, eighth of the season and 22nd of her career.
· Lewis tallied her seventh double-figure scoring game of the season and 44th as a Gator
· Needles had her fifth double-figure scoring game of the season and 20th of her career
Streaks:
· Brooke Copeland's three-pointer with 15:24 remaining in the first half marked the Gators' 145th consecutive game with a trey.
Individuals:
· Kayla Lewis surpassed 900 career points after scoring 17 tonight and now has 909 as a Gator
· Cassie Peoples tied a season high with five steals, one shy of her career high
· Haley Lorenzen grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and added nine points
Numbers to Start:
· Haley Lorenzen tallied her seventh career start
· January Miller made her 31st career start
· Kayla Lewis recorded her 73rd career start and 45th consecutive
· Carlie Needles appeared in the starting lineup for the 44th time in her career.
· Cassie Peoples made her 36th start
· The Gators lost their first game of the season (4-1) when this group starts a game
Quotes from the Court:
UF Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening Statement:
I really admired LSU's toughness tonight and the way they kept their composure with how we started the game. I think that shows great leadership and they certainly had that tonight. We're obviously disappointed with the opportunities that we had, and then having the critical breakdowns that we did. Defensively, we just didn't defend the three point line very well against someone (DaShawn Harden) who is a great shooter. We're on this SEC ride now, and we've got real quick turnarounds and we've got figure out what we did wrong and correct it to get ready for the next one. We can't hang our head, pout or cry, because we know the next team is going to present the same amount if not more challenges.
On where she thinks her team is at thus far into the season:
I think that the things that we need to improve upon the most is the things that I already talked about. They are trends that we are still trying to reverse, such as the awareness on defending the three point line. I think that we're a pretty solid defensive team, but we've had very critical breakdowns. I still think that they are a lot of positive things that have gone well. Our post play that you saw tonight is something that we can definitely hang our hat on. We know we can shoot the ball better. We have to do a better job of boxing out consistently. I think that we let players, who can only affect the game in one way, come in and do that, such as LSU's rebounders tonight. We just have to do a better job.
LSU Head Coach Nikki Caldwell
Opening Statement:
This was a big win for us tonight because Florida is a very well-coached basketball team. They have unbelievable guard play and a balanced attack. We felt that this game would be won by whichever team executed not only offensively, but the team that would get those stops we needed, which I felt was the difference for us down the stretch. We were able to get defensive stops that we needed and I can't be more proud of this team for fighting back in the first half to tie the game, but we also have been plagued by that. We did a much better job in the second half.
LSU Senior Guard DaShawn Harden
On LSU's improved defense:
This past couple of days we have been working a lot on help defense, and I think as a team we made sure we were in the help line. I think seeing that second line of defense made [Florida] second guess driving.
On what the team talked about at halftime after overcoming a 14-point deficit and tying the game entering the second:
We have been in the situation where we get right there and tie the game and then just let the game go away. We have really talked a lot about taking it to the next level. We don't want to repeat the same things over and over again; that is what we talked about at halftime.
Next Game:
What: Florida (8-6, 0-1 SEC) at Auburn (9-5, 0-1 SEC)
When: Sunday, January 4, 2014 at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT)
Where: Auburn Arena * Auburn, Ala.
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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