Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Early shooting woes and turnover issues were too much for the University of Florida women's basketball team to overcome on Sunday afternoon at the O'Connell Center in a 76-70 loss to No. 8 Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference opener for both squads.

The loss snapped the Gators' 12-game winning streak, which was the second-longest run in program history.
 
Despite making seven of its 16 shots during a furious rally in the fourth quarter when UF outscored MSU 25-16, the Gators went just 22 of 68 (32.4 percent) from the field. They also committed a season-high 32 turnovers, making it even more difficult to chip away at Mississippi State's lead, which swelled to 19 points early in the third quarter.
 
Redshirt senior guard Carlie Needles, who appeared off the bench for the first time all season, scored a season-high 17 points. Junior forward Ronni Williams recorded her fifth double-double of the year, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Sophomore forward Haley Lorenzen and junior center Tyshara Fleming snagged seven rebounds apiece for the Gators. All seven of Lorenzen's boards came at the offensive end of the floor.
 
How It Happened

With Florida struggling to make shots, it made good use of the free-throw line. In the first quarter alone, the Gators made seven freebies on eight attempts.
 
Carlie Needles scored 12 of UF's first 22 points, but it was not enough to keep the team from facing a 42-26 halftime deficit.
 
Much of the same continued in the second half. Florida's shooting remained cold, though its opportunistic play created plenty of chances to score at the charity stripe. By the end of the day, the Gators were 21 of 28 at the free-throw line.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter, Florida's offense sprung to life. An 8-0 run cut Mississippi State's lead to nine (68-59) by the 2:54 mark. The Gators went on to trim the deficit to seven—twice. And a momentum-shifting three from Needles slashed the Bulldogs' edge to four points (72-68) with only 49 seconds left.
 
Mississippi State made four of its final six attempts from the free-throw line to close out the win.
 
Florida vs. Mississippi State Series History

• The Gators' all-time record against Mississippi State stands at 25-20, while their record against ranked MSU teams dropped to 2-3
• The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings in the series.

Gator Starters

• Dyandria Anderson, Eleanna Christinaki, Haley Lorenzen, January Miller, Ronni Williams
  • Fourth different starting lineup the Gators used this season

News and Numbers of Note

• Ronni Williams' 12 rebounds matched her season high, which she also logged at South Alabama (Dec. 1)
• Eleanna Christinaki has now made 14 consecutive free throws
• The Gators 32.4 field goal percentage marked a season low
• UF's 28 free throw attempts marked its third-highest total of the season
• Florida's 26 offensive rebounds were a season high

 
Quotes from the Court

Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler
On the contest this afternoon against No. 8 Mississippi State…
"We got beat by a very good team this afternoon. I am really proud of the way my team fought, especially in that fourth quarter. Our effort was tremendous, but effort is not enough to win games in the SEC. We have so many quality opponents and we have to take care of the ball better. Turnovers broke our backs today. I thought we played our hearts out and we played with a lot of guts and courage, led by Carlie's example and that is going to take us really, really far. We just have some things that we have to clean up and it is exciting that we have another fantastic challenge at Tennessee."
 
On overcoming adversity to come back in the contest…
"I think our team did a really good job of just staying focused on ourselves. I think that whether we agreed or disagreed with (a) call, it did not have any impact on us. Those crews of officials are working just as hard as each of the teams and they try to do what is right."
 
On Ronni Williams picking up three fouls in the first quarter…
"We don't play with any fear of fouls. When the third foul was called, Ronni knows it is Carla's turn to step up, or Brooke's. In terms of impacting our game plan or altering our expectation, we would love to have Ronni on the floor the whole time. But our team just thinks about whose turn it is next."
 
Florida Redshirt Senior Guard Carlie Needles
On the fourth quarter comeback…
"I think that the pattern of our team is that we continue to come out and keep fighting in the second half. That is something that we need to work on in practice—just being able to be ready when we come out in the first half. I was really proud of our fight and the way we came out in the fourth quarter. We believed that we could (win) and we played that way. We need to play that way the whole time."
 
On what the Gators can take away from the loss…
"We learned a lot from this game. We know that the SEC is the hardest conference in the country and we love that. We want to play against great competition. You can't be the best team without playing the best teams. So, it is just making sure that we are remaining positive and working really hard in practice because that is where it starts. I feel like we did well in the fourth quarter and that is where we do well in practice. So, that is where we need to work and work on the things that are breaking our backs in games. We just have to keep working hard and staying focused. We know that every game is important because it is the SEC."
 
Mississippi State Head Coach Vic Schaefer
Opening Statement…
"I'm real proud of our kids. We've got some of the best young ladies there are in the country. They're so tough as we've been on the road for a while and hung in there.

We put three good quarters on the floor today, before that fourth quarter hit us and we struggled a bit. This one here [Morgan Williams], I'm glad she knew when the bus was leaving because she got us going and kept us in front as we went down the stretch. She had a monster day on the court. Looking back, she's going to notice her seven turnovers, but I'm ultimately going to be looking at her four steals, four assists, and her 5-of-6 showing at the free throw line, in addition to the impressive showing from the field.

Florida is good and they're going to win a bunch of games. They're hard to deal with. Those Florida seniors were playing their tails off, and the newcomers displayed a lot of talent. It's a great plan here and Amanda is doing a great job with them. We were just very fortunate to get the win on the road today."
 
Postgame Links

• Postgame Press Conference (Coach Butler, Carlie Needles)
• Photo Gallery
• Final Box (PDF)
• Final Box (HTML)

 
Up Next for the Gators

• Florida will hit the road to face No. 13 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday (Jan. 7) night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with television coverage being provided by SEC Network.

 
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