Gators Defeat Colorado to win Omni Hotels Classic, 83-61

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Gators Defeat Colorado to win Omni Hotels Classic, 83-61

BOULDER, Colo. – Florida overcame early adversity and relied on its depth to defeat Colorado, 83-61, and win the 29th Omni Hotels Classic played at the Coors Events Center on Saturday evening.

The Gators were plagued with foul trouble from the opening minutes of the game, but turned to its bench which produced in 52 points, paced by a team-high 14 points from Cassie Peoples and 11 from January Miller, who also collected six rebounds and dished three assists.

In spite of her foul woes – picking up two in the first 1:52 of the game - sophomore Haley Lorenzen was named MVP of the event, as she followed her career-high 20-point performance against Ball State on Friday with six points, a game-high eight rebounds with two blocks and two steals in the championship game.

Simone Westbrook also earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, as she scored a career-best 17 points against the Cardinals and continued to lead the Gator's defensive charge that came through with 20 fast-break points against Colorado, which had won its home tournament 18 of the previous 27 years.

Ball State defeated Massachusetts, 81-54, in the consolation game.

How it Happened

Florida survived a foul-plagued first half where its starting frontcourt of Haley Lorenzen and Ronni Williams were on the bench early – Lorenzen just 1:52 into the game and Williams with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

The Gators still managed to build an impressive 21-8 lead by the end of the first frame, going deep into its roster.

The fouls continued to pile up for the Gators, who were whistled for a total of 19 first-half fouls. Colorado, which collected eight personals, took advantage by converting 14-of-16 free throws during the second quarter alone, 16-of-18 for the half, to fuel a 25-18 advantage during the second 10 minutes of play and reduced a 14-point deficit to six points by halftime, 39-33.

January Miller was certainly the offensive key for the Gators during the first half, when she scored seven points, collected six rebounds and dished three assists in nine minutes. She was, however, one of six Gators who collected at least two fouls during the opening half.

It was Miller who began the second-half scoring and Williams followed with a three-point-play to give Florida a 44-33 lead.

That's when Colorado ripped off a seven straight points and cut UF's lead to four points, 44-40.

Peoples entered the second half at the 5:37 mark of the third quarter and that's when the game began to shift in Florida's favor for good.

Peoples scored five seconds after stepping on the court and stopped CU's run.

After the team's traded scores, the Gator senior stole the inbounds pass and dished to Lorenzen underneath. Lorenzen followed with another bucket that ignited a 12-2 spurt and Florida held a 58-44 lead with 2:46 left in the third.

After four points from CU that cut the Gator lead to 10 points, Peoples went to work again, scoring five consecutive points and the Gators were never threatened, closing out the fourth quarter, 22-13.

Updated Records

· Florida 5-1

· Colorado 3-2

Florida vs. Colorado

· This was the third meeting between Florida and Colorado, with the Gators taking a 2-1 lead in the series.

· Florida is 3-2 all-time when playing in the state of Colorado.

· The Gators are 11-8 all-time against teams from the Pac-12 Conference.

Numbers of Note

· UF won its fifth consecutive game, the longest such streak since the 2013-14 squad won nine straight.

· The tournament title is UF's first at a two-game event the Gators haven't hosted since winning the Courtyard LaGuardia Turkey Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., in November of 2011.

· Florida shot 51.4 percent (32-72) from the floor during the deciding second half, when the Gators outscored Colorado, 44-28

· The Gators won the rebounding battle, 53-39.

· UF outscored CU in the paint, 48-22.

· Florida never trailed in the game.

· The Gators are 3-2 all-time playing in the state of Colorado.

· Florida sports a 2-3 all-time record against teams from the state of Colorado.

· Second Half Starters: Anderson, Needles, Lorenzen, Miller, Williams

· Game Starters: Anderson, Needles, Lorenzen, Christinaki, Williams (4-0 record)

Individual Numbers of Note

· Sophomore Haley Lorenzen was named tournament MVP

· Junior Simone Westbrook was named to the All-Tournament Team

· Cassie Peoples scored a team-high 14 points for her third double-figure scoring game this year, 34th of her career

· January Miller scored 11 points for her second double-figure scoring game this year, 35th of her career

Early Adversity

· Starting forward Haley Lorenzen picked up her second foul 1:52 into the game and did not return until the 5:14 mark of the second quarter.

· Starting forward Ronni Williams picked up second foul with 3:23 remaining in first quarter and did not return until the 6:37 mark of the second quarter; eventually fouling out

· First post off the bench Tyshara Fleming collected her third foul with 2:36 left in the second quarter.

· January Miller collected her fourth with 8:27 remaining in the third quarter.

· Florida compiled 29 fouls during the game

Quotes from the Court – UF Head Coach Amanda Butler

On winning a tournament on the road:

“It's huge for who we want to be. Being this tough on the road and beating two very, very good teams, I thought we did an outstanding job. I thought there was a tremendous amount of adversity and distraction tonight and our team wasn't having any of that. We were tough. We stayed focused and we were about each other and that's why the score looks the way it does.”

On the contributions of the bench:

“That's one of our strengths – our balance. I thought January (Miller) really, really set a tone for us tonight. I'm really proud of her. She played like a senior in every way. Cassie (Peoples) gave us great minutes in the second half. And like January, when she got in the game, she attacked, followed the game plan and put her teammates in position to score. I really liked our tempo. I thought we had a lot of confidence in the full court. I think holding Colorado to 61 points on their home court - and they are a team that can score a lot of points – was a great defensive job.”

On the number of fouls called disrupting the flow of the game:

“That was just not something we were going to focus on tonight. We wanted to play our game. We wanted to attack on our end and drive hard in the paint. Fouls were just not something we were going to dwell on.”

On the number of different players who stepped up during the tournament:

“I think that shows great leadership. We have a lot of returners and upperclassmen. That's the way a three-game span is supposed to look. Confident players across the board. We are going to put you on the court to do your job and do your best and that's what you're seeing – players playing for each other.”

Links of Note

· Final Box Score (PDF)

· Final Box Score (HTML)

Next for the Gators

· Who: Florida (5-1) at South Alabama (1-2)

· Where: Mitchell Center (10,000) * Mobile, Alabama

· When: Tue., December 1, 2015 * 8 p.m. ET

Game Coverage & More!

· Radio: LIVE on ESPN Gainesville (95.3 FM and 850 AM) with Adam Schick & Brittany Davis

· Internet Audio: LIVE thru www.Gatorzone.com (FREE)

· Television: none

· Internet Video: LIVE thru www.usajaguars.com/showcase