GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In what was its lone home game in a five-contest span, sophomore forward
Haley Lorenzen's outstanding night and timely baskets from redshirt senior guard
Cassie Peoples gave the Florida women's basketball team just enough to top Arkansas State, 76-72, at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Monday night.
The victory, which marked the 200th career win for UF head coach
Amanda Butler who is in her ninth year with the Gators, featured 11 tied scores and six lead changes.
Lorenzen finished with 19 points, the second-highest total of her collegiate career, draining seven of her eight attempts from the field. The Iowa City, Iowa, native also collected six rebounds, two blocks and a steal for a well-rounded stat sheet.
Peoples provided 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, with three of those baskets coming at critical junctures of the game for the Gators. Her final basket, a driving teardrop in the lane, gave Florida a four-point lead with 41.8 seconds to play and all but sealed the win.
Freshman guard
Eleanna Christinaki reached double figures for the third time this season, recording 13 points – the final two coming from the free throw line with 15 seconds remaining that gave UF a 76-72 lead - three assists and two steals. Sophomore guard
Dyandria Anderson was the only other Gator to score in double figures, as she tallied 11 points, snared seven rebounds, nabbed two steals and dished out two assists.
How It HappenedFlorida went to work in the paint right away, scoring 16 of its first 19 points inside.
Arkansas State fought off small scoring spurts by the Gators and made it a thrilling final five-plus minutes of action in the first half. During that time, there were five ties and four lead changes, with the two teams battling to a 33-33 tie at the break.
It remained a back-and-forth affair for the opening three minutes of the third quarter, when the Red Wolves strung together a 14-2 run to nab a 51-39 edge.
Trailing by 11 points with 4:47 left in the third, the Gators rattled off 12 consecutive points, with Peoples' layup and three-point play capping the run and retaining the lead (53-52) for the first time since the 1:05 mark of the second quarter.
Arkansas State eventually tied things up in the final 90 seconds, but two free throws from junior small forward
Ronni Williams and Peoples' dagger in the paint allowed Florida to close out its seventh consecutive victory.
Updated Records:- Florida: 7-1
- Arkansas State: 4-2
Florida vs. Arkansas State: Series History- The Gators improve their all-time record against Arkansas State to 3-0
- This was the first game in the series decided by less than 10 points, as Florida won the previous two meetings by 10 and 28 points, respectively
Gator Starters News and Numbers of Note- Head coach Amanda Butler collected the 200th win of her coaching career; she is 160-113 in her nine seasons as Florida's head coach
- For only the fourth time this season, four different Gators scored at least 10 points apiece
- Of those games, tonight's was only the second one that saw two of those Gators (Cassie Peoples, Haley Lorenzen) shoot at least 66 percent from the field
- Lorenzen scored in double figures for the third time this season, finishing with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting
- Lorenzen's 87.5-percent field goal percentage was the highest mark by a Gator this season (minimum of five attempts)
- Peoples posted her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season—those four efforts have all come after an outing in which she failed to reach double figures
- Tonight marked Dyandria Anderson's second consecutive game scoring in double figures
- The Gators are now 3-1 in games decided by 10 points or less this season
- Florida also improved to 2-0 in games when tied at halftime this season
Quotes from the CourtFlorida Head Coach Amanda ButlerOpening Statement…"We beat a very, very good team tonight. I am very proud of team. It was a group effort that was just full of different ways that we stepped up at different moments. There were a few moments where we didn't play with the composure that we expected to. We never let those moments keep us down. We bounced back and I thought we showed a very resilient spirit, especially in the third quarter when they seemed to have all the momentum. Again, I think that was a result of great bench energy and it was just the five we had out there at that time that turned the tides in the third quarters, it was a big momentum shift. I thought that was a big momentum shift for us. It was a great win. Arkansas State is very good. I am glad it is over."
On Arkansas State's personnel… "We talked about what a scorer she [Brown-Haywood] was. She just really came to play. You just really have to tip your hat to her. I think when you are a playing a team full of seniors like their starting five, they play like seniors. Each one of those kids has the type of ownership that they expect to be. Every one of them is ready whenever their number is called."
On adjustments because of Ronni Williams being in foul trouble… "That is another thing that is a credit to the spirit of the team. We have a lot of confidence in that person who is next up. Brooke (Copeland) stepped in there and hit a big three in the first half and Vikta came in and had some paint presence, which was that much more important. We definitely don't like to have a situation like that, where we are having to choose to not have Ronni on the floor, but I think Ronni would say that she has great confidence in who she has coming in behind her."
Florida sophomore forward Haley LorenzenOn her big scoring night: "To be honest my teammates, they looked for me and they put their confidence in me and I just wanted to get the ball for my team. A lot of my points came off of second chances and going and getting boards and those are the little things that I can do to contribute to my team. It was definitely my team that gave me the confidence to do this."
Florida sophomore guard Dyandria AndersonOn maintaining her offensive numbers throughout the season:"I am just doing whatever I can for us to get a win. If that means I need to get more rebounds, if I need to dive on the floor and take a charge I'll do whatever I need to make sure that we get the win."
Arkansas State Head Coach Brian BoyerOn the game against UF:"There was a handful of keys to this game and free throws was one of them. We came into this matchup knowing they average 22 free throw attempts a game and we talked about it beforehand. They got to the line and did their job and we didn't. It's a part of their game and they're very good at it. They get to the paint and they're aggressive and physical while doing so.
"This Florida team is pretty good, give them credit. When you see them in person they seem even better than they do on film. You see the athleticism on film but once you're on the court in person you see it even more."
Postgame Links Up Next for the Gators- Florida will hit the road for a non-conference matchup with Wisconsin in Madison this Thursday (Dec. 10) Tip off at the Kohl Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, with television coverage provided by Big Ten Network.
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