GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior Ronni Williams posted her second consecutive double-double to lead the Florida women's basketball team past Kennesaw State, 84-57, in a non-conference victory at the O'Connell Center Saturday evening.
The Gators (2-1) used their size and quickness to create easy baskets inside, both on the drive and in the post, helping them outscore the Owls (1-3) by 44 points (60-16) in the paint. Florida also converted its season-high 24 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
Williams posted a game-high 14 points—which came on a steady 7-of-14 shooting—and snared 10 rebounds to collect her seventh career double-double.
Three other Gators joined her in double figures. That trio was led by sophomore forward Haley Lorenzen, who scored 12 points and made five of her 10 field goal attempts. Redshirt senior guard Cassie Peoples and junior center Tyshara Fleming finished with 11 points apiece for the Gators. In addition to her career-best scoring night, Fleming pulled down eight rebounds.
How It Happened
After falling behind by four points in the opening three minutes, the Gators rattled off a 12-2 run, with six of those points coming from sophomore guard Dyandria Anderson, to take an 18-12 lead at the 3:17 mark of the opening frame.
Hitting 10 of their first 17 shots from the field helped the Gators keep pace with the Owls' solid offensive output in the opening quarter and start of the second.
The Owls hung around for the majority of the second quarter, keeping the deficit to single digits until the closing four minutes of the second quarter, when the Gators hit their stride and closed the half by making five of their final six attempts. That sharp shooting allowed Florida to take a 48-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Following a brief run by Kennesaw State, aided by an uncharacteristic UF scoring drought in the first four minutes of the third quarter, the Gators pulled away for good, never letting the lead shrink to less than 13 points after the midway point of the third.
From there, Florida would led by as many as 27 points on three different occasions before the final buzzer sounded.
Florida vs. Kennesaw State: Series History
· The Gators improve their all-time record against Kennesaw State to 2-0
· Florida came away with an 83-62 victory in the only meeting prior to Saturday (Nov. 21) evening
Gator Starters
· Dyandria Anderson, Eleanna Christinaki, Haley Lorenzen, Carlie Needles, Ronni Williams
News and Numbers of Note
· Florida posted its largest margin of victory (27 points) since beating Southern, 78-49, on Dec. 21, 2014.
· UF reached its highest point total (84) in a home game since last season's 92-64 win over Charleston Southern on Nov. 25, 2014.
· Twelve different Gators scored a point in tonight's win.
· Florida racked up season highs in total rebounds (51), offensive rebounds (24), steals (15) and forced turnovers (25).
· Ronni Williams recorded consecutive double-doubles for the first time in her career
· At the 8:55 mark of the third quarter, Williams converted a layup to score her 600th career point
· In just 12 minutes of action, Tyshara Fleming posted a career-high 11 points, topping her previous high of eight points (Nov. 13, at Temple).
· Haley Lorenzen scored in double figures for the eighth time in her career, with her last double-digit effort coming at Texas A&M on Feb. 22, 2015. All but two of her 12 points came in the first half.
· January Miller recorded her 100th career assist on Dyandria Anderson's made layup at the 6:21 mark of the opening quarter.
· Simone Westbrook hauled in a career-best six rebounds, topping her previous high of four against Florida State (Nov. 16) earlier this year.
· Viktorija Dimaite logged three minutes and scored a point in the fourth quarter to make her season debut.
Quotes from the Court
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening Statement:
"I was really proud of our preparation for this game and the level of intensity we had in practice in addition to our focus on detail. We stayed calm throughout the game and didn't come in on to much of a high from our win over Florida State -- a lot of that goes credited to our upper classmen. We kept a good balance and won the rebound war. I think that's something that has to remain important to us. This was a great start to that."
On not coming in on a hangover from the top-10 win over Florida State:
"I've got a lot of trust in our upperclassmen and our seniors. They know the importance of it and those are the messages that are handled best in the locker room. We talked about it a bit amongst ourselves but I put that trust in our students to make sure they know where we're at and where their focus needs to be."
On the lack of three-pointers:
"We didn't 'not' want to take threes. We really just wanted to make sure we were taking good shots and I'm really proud of the shot selections we made tonight -- it has been a key for us these past two games.
"It just worked out that way in the first half that we didn't have an attempt. I thought all our shots in the second half were quality shots as well. That's what we want to be doing -- taking the good shots. The more of those we take, the more we'll be able to make. I don't think any of our shooters were discouraged to take any shots."
On changes needed before Tuesday:
"We know we need to get better at the free throw line and be tougher in the paint. I think we created a lot of opportunities in the paint, we just didn't stick the ball in the hole as much as we'd needed to for as talented as we are. That toughness piece can go up but we'll watch film from tonight and respond to it."
Florida junior guard/forward Ronni Williams
On being hungry after a double-double:
"I'm always going to be hungry for more. We need to make a statement this year and we're going to play the only way we know how to play. That double-double comes from my teammates and helping me get into the right positions in order to score and rebound and ultimately be successful."
On first-half shots not going in:
"My teammates stayed on me for the most part and reminded me there was more basketball to be played. We don't hang our heads on the little things. We've got a saying that goes NBA – next best action. If we miss a shot, we need to move on and make the 'next best action.'"
Kennesaw State Head Coach Nitra Perry
On overall thoughts of the game:
"I thought that for the first two quarters, we played really hard. Overall really, we played hard. It's tough when a team is pressing the entire game. I think that started to wear on us. Their [Florida] pressure defense and picking us up at full court, it wears on you. Mentally, it just wears on you."
Postgame Links
· Official Postgame Press Conference (Coach Butler, Tyshara Fleming, Ronni Williams)
· Game Highlights
· Final Box (PDF)
· Final Box (HTML)
Up Next for the Gators
· Florida will host Savannah State in its next game, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24, with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. inside the O'Connell Center.
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