GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior Ronni Williams posted a double-double, newcomers Eleanna Christinaki and Simone Westbrook added double-figure scoring efforts and helped Florida overcome a 15-point deficit to knock off No. 6/7 Florida State, 82-72, in the O'Connell Center Monday evening.
The Gators (1-1) found themselves down 18-9 at the end of the first quarter and then by 15 points, 24-9 and again 26-11, the latter with 6:49 remaining the second quarter before staging their rally that ranked tied for seventh biggest comeback victory in program history.
The last time Florida overcame a deficit of at last 15 points was on December 28, 2013, when the Gators regrouped from a 16-point hole against Georgetown and earned a 67-65 overtime win.
No such extra frame was required Monday, when the Gators turned the fourth quarter into their best 10 minutes of the early season, outscoring their instate rivals, 31-15. During that final frame, the Gators shot a sizzling 72.2 percent (13-18) from the floor, had six assists to just three turnovers and collected five steals, three of those by the freshman Christinaki, who finished the game with a career-best 13 points, seven assists and four steals in 28 minutes of work.
Westbrook tallied eight of her 14 points during the final 10 minutes, while Williams scored seven point and collected five rebounds during the frame en route to posting a game-high 21 points with 10 rebounds for her six career double-double.
Dyandria Anderson scored all of her career-high nine points during that final period, when she hit all four field goal attempts that included a three-pointer.
The Gators went into the locker room trailing at halftime, 38-29. They chipped away at their deficit by winning the third quarter, 22-19, and carried that momentum into the deciding fourth.
How it Happened
Williams converted an acrobatic layup 40 seconds into the third quarter that sparked an 8-0 run. Christinaki followed Williams' layup with one of her own, the collected a steal and found Haley Lorenzen underneath for two more. Lorenzen came up a block on the other end, Westbrook corralled the loose ball and Lorenzen ran the floor and put back an offensive board that had the Gators within one, 38-37.
The teams traded baskets and Florida still wasn't able to take the lead, as Florida State eventually pushed its lead back to double-figures, 57-46, with 2:06 remaining in the third.
Redshirt-senior Carlie Needles countered for Florida when she launched a deep three-pointer that bounced high off the rim and dropped in with 1:44 on the clock and Williams closed the frame with another layup as the Gators were within six, 57-51, entering the final period.
Not only did that three-pointer by Needles start a momentum swing for the Gators, it also marked her 161st career trey that tied her for fifth in UF's all-time record book with Steffi Sorensen (2008-10).
Williams began the fourth with another layup before Adut Bulgak, who finished with 20 points and 14 board, countered and put the Noles back up by six, 59-53.
That's when Westbrook and Anderson came alive.
Anderson found Westbrook on the wing, where she nailed a three-pointer. After an FSU miss, Anderson got on the board with the first two of the Gator's 10 fastbreak points in the fourth quarter.
Christinaki came up with a steal and dished to Anderson who converted with 8:06 remaining and Florida took its first lead since scoring the initial points of the game.
The Gators and Anderson didn't stop there, as the UF sophomore went on a personal 9-0 run over a 1:14 span that turned a three-point deficit into a six-point lead with 7:11 remaining.
FSU stopped the march, but Williams countered with a three-point-play and the momentum swung quickly back toward the Gators.
With the teams traded points for the next few minutes and with UF holding a 72-67 lead, the Gators outscored the visitors, 10-5, and closed out the game with their first win against a top-10 team since defeating then-No. 6 Kentucky, 83-73, in Lexington on January 5, 2014.
First Quarter at a Glance
Christinaki's first collegiate field goal was a three-pointer with 1:57 remaining in first quarter that whittled the Gator deficit to three points, 12-9.
FSU came right back with the next six points and closed the first period with an 18-9 lead.
Florida was its own worst enemy, committing 10 turnovers, the majority unforced, and the Seminoles converted those into eight points.
The 'Noles also dominated the paint during the opening 10 minutes, outscoring the Gators 12-4 inside, including eight second-chance points, and held a 17-9 rebounding cushion.
Updated Records
· Florida 1-1
· Florida State 0-1
Florida vs. Florida State: the series
· The Gators lead the all-time series, 42-30, including a 20-9 record when playing in Gainesville.
· FSU had won the previous three meetings.
· Florida's last victory against the 'Noles was a 72-58 win on Nov. 17, 2011 in Gainesville.
· The 72-game series is the longest in Gator program history, in front of the 66 meetings against Georgia.
· This was UF's first of potentially several games this year against a nationally-ranked opponent. The Seminoles check in at No. 6 in the Associated Press poll, released just prior to tip-off, and No. 7 in the WBCA/USA Today Coaches Poll.
UF's Upset win vs. No. 6/7 Florida State was its:
· 53rd All-Time Upset Win vs. higher-ranked opponent
· 28th upset win at home
· 33rd upset win when UF was not ranked
· It was the 14th upset win under Head Coach Amanda Butler
Gripping Gators
· Florida is 1-1 this year in games decided by 10 points or less.
· 14 of UF's 30 games last year were decided by 10 points or less.
· 17 of Florida's games in 2013-14 were decided by 10 points or less.
Gator Starters
· First Half: Haley Lorenzen, January Miller, Carlie Needles, Cassie Peoples and Ronni Williams
· Second Half: Dyandria Anderson, Eleanna Christinaki, Haley Lorenzen, Simone Westbrook and Ronni Williams
News and Numbers of Note
· Ronni Williams (21) scored in double-figures for the first time this season and 33rd time in her career
· Williams' double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds) was the sixth double-double of her career
· Williams 21-point performance marked the first time a Gator scored 20+ in a game since Kayla Lewis hit 20 at Penn State on March 25, 2014 in the NCAA Second Round
· Williams collected her 350th career rebound during the game
· Simone Westbrook scored 14 points for the second consecutive game
· True freshman Eleanna Christinaki scored a career-best 13 points for her first double-figure scoring game
· Coach Butler used all 12 available players in tonight's game
· Redshirt senior Carlie Needles appeared in her 100th career game
· Needles finished the night with eight points and knocked down two three-pointers. Needles has 161 career three-pointers, leaving her at No. 5 all-time with Steffi Sorensen
· Christinaki knocked down her first collegiate field goal (also a three-pointer) in tonight's contest with 1:57 to go in the first quarter. Christinaki finished the contest with 13 points.
· The 15-point comeback win tied for the seventh-largest deficit overcome in program history
· This is the first time UF has overcome a deficit of 15+ points since December 28, 2013. The Gators were down 16 against Georgetown and earned a 67-65 overtime win.
Quotes from the Court:
UF Head Coach Amanda Butler:
Opening Statement:
"We beat a very, very, very good team this afternoon and I'm just proud of, first of all, our effort and our preparation, you know, we had a quick turnaround and coming off of disappointment I thought we showed a tremendous amount of maturity. I thought we had great leadership from our upperclassmen, (the win) meant a ton for our seniors to make sure that we got what we deserved tonight, and so I'm just really, really proud of that group to get this win tonight for them. You know, it's significant, this is a significant game, this is why we love college sports, because of these type of rivalries, but for Florida State to be number seven in the country and to have so many different people step up and just give us whatever we needed, I'm just really, really proud of the overall team effort."
On if this was a game that the team had circled when the schedule came out:
"It's Florida-Florida State, you know, so I don't know that we circled it, but you know, you're obviously aware of it and if you say that you're not, then you're probably not telling the truth and that goes way beyond women's basketball, you know, it's on the football field, the volleyball court, it's always a big deal when we get together and like I said, I think that's one of the reasons why their young ladies chose that school and our young ladies chose us, so you can be in games like this, you know with that type of environment, but (Florida State is) a very, very good team, we knew it was going to be a fantastic opportunity, but I don't think we got ahead of ourselves earlier in the year or anything."
On the momentum change in the second half:
"Certainly, there was a tremendous amount of momentum. This is an energy team and you know, one of the things we spend a great deal of time practicing, reinforcing, and talking about is our culture and how we treat each other, how we love each other, how we handle adversity, how we give each other energy in different situations, and I think that's really what you saw is a manifestation of that. There was never a time, and you mentioned missing layups, they (Florida State) had 29 offensive rebounds, they missed and they still got their rebounds, so, they never relaxed. I thought we did a great job of just continuing to attack and finding ways to make the next play, whatever that was."
Florida State Head Coach Sue Semrau:
Opening statement:
"It was a great game and I thought that Florida came out and played harder than we did. I think that it was a really tough opener for us, we felt it would be, and I think it was exactly what we needed. Credit Florida, they played great."
On the difference between the first and second half:
"I think our defense really broke down. I thought they (Florida) did a good job of using the ball screen to get us out of position. They (Florida) hit shots and we didn't."
On playing Florida in their season-opener:
“Oh, it was exactly what we needed. We certainly didn't want to start off with competition that wasn't really formidable. I thought Florida came out and they were extremely formidable, they were tough, they were hard-nosed. They had something to prove. They lost their opener on the road, it's (the O'Connell Center) is a tough place to play, it was a great crowd.”
Postgame Links
· UF's Presser with Coach Butler, Ronni Williams, Simone Westbrook, Dyandria Anderson and Eleanna Christinaki: http://www.gatorvision.tv/watch/?Archive=3308
· Highlights: http://www.gatorvision.tv/watch/?Archive=3309
· Photo Gallery: http://www.gatorzone.com/gallery/?gallery_id=3359
· Final Box (PDF): gatorzone.com/basketball/women/stats/notes/post/20151116173000.pdf
· Final Box (HTML): http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/women/boxscore.php?gameid=13055
Up Next for the Gators
· Florida next plays host to Kennesaw State on Saturday, November 24.
· Tip-off from the O'Connell Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.
· The Gator football team plays host to FAU next door at The Swamp, where kick-off is at 12 Noon.
· Parking details will be announced as soon as they have been solidified.
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