Florida Gators

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- They had a comfortable lead at halftime, but somewhere between the break and the start of the second half, the Gators lost their shooting touch.

In the end, the UF women's basketball team lost an opportunity to advance in the NCAA Tournament, losing to the University of Albany here on Friday afternoon at the Carrier Dome, 61-59. (See note at bottom of story about final score)

"We had a great season. It's just really unfortunate for it to end feeling this much disappointment,'' Gators head coach Amanda Butler said. "We weren't us in the second half. In these biggest moments, you've got to be yourself exaggerated."

Instead, the Gators faded down the stretch as the Great Danes, who trailed by as many as 17 and were down 37-22 at halftime, stormed back in the final quarter to win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history.

UAlbany (28-4) outscored the Gators 19-7 in the fourth quarter as Florida (22-9) hit just one field goal after Haley Lorenzen put the Gators up 57-46 with 7:49 left. The Gators didn't score again until January Miller's basket with 0.4 seconds left.

The Great Danes advanced to face host Syracuse on Sunday for a berth in the Sweet 16. The Orange easily disposed of Army in the second game.

Meanwhile, the Gators walked off the court blurry-eyed and stunned following perhaps their most deflating loss under Butler. Florida shot just 20 percent in the second half (6 of 30) and missed 11 consecutive shots in the fourth quarter as the Great Danes went on a 15-0 run.

"We couldn't seem to get any momentum back,'' Butler said. "Our decision-making was not up to far. We fouled jump shooters a lot, had some really critical poor decisions down the stretch. We were way too passive and hesitant. We got away from who we are."

What made the turnaround more shocking is the Great Danes roared back without their star player, three-time American East Conference Player of the Year Shereesha Richards, who fouled out with 6:14 left.

In Richards' absence, Imani Tate picked up the slack with 28 points and Tiana-Jo Carter's putback with 7.3 seconds left helped seal the victory. Carter's score came off a miss by Zakiya Saunders. With the rebound going out of bounds, Lorenzen batted it in-bounds to Carter, who scored on an uncontested layup.

"When their best player fouls out, the rest of them are going to step up,'' Gators forward Ronni Williams said. "That's what they did."

Gators guard Simone Westbrook added: "We just didn't play smart. They exploited that and we didn't have an answer."

The Gators still led 57-56 when Heather Foster scored her only basket of the game with 1:47 remaining on a pass from Carter to put the Great Danes ahead for the first time since early in the second quarter. Despite time left to reclaim the lead, the Gators couldn't buy a basket.

"It was frustrating,'' Miller said. "I think we kind of let that affect our game and were unable to bounce back from that. We kind of kept expecting we would. On the defensive end we didn't come through."

Freshman guard Eleanna Christinaki led Florida with 11 points, and Williams added 10.

The Gators took control in the first half with a 20-2 run with Richards on the bench in foul trouble. They led 35-18 with 1:14 left before halftime. What once seemed an insurmountable lead faded from there, leaving the Gators searching for answers that never came.

"They adjusted and we didn't,'' Miller said.

*****

Note on change in final score from the NCAA:

NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament
Albany vs. Florida
Friday, March 18, 2016

* The final official score of the Albany-Florida game remains 61-59 based on the final progressive team totals of the official scorebook, even though final statistics indicate 61-58. The mistake was made by the official scorer in awarding a free throw to Florida that did not occur. NCAA Women's Basketball Rules (Rule 2, Section 9, Article 12) states that "...referee shall accept the record of the official scorebook, unless the referee has knowledge that permits another decision. When the discrepancy is in the score and the error is not resolved, the referee shall accept the progressive team totals of the official scorebook." The score remains 61-59 because Rule 224.3 states: "When all three officials leave the visual confines of the playing area at the end of the game, the officials' jurisdiction has ended and the score has been approved."


*****
Team Notes:

• Today's loss dips Florida's all-time record in NCAA Tournament games to 12-15, while its record in first round games drops to 9-6
  • The Gators also fall to 2-5 in NCAA Tournament games decided by five points or less
• This is the first time in Florida's last four NCAA Tournament appearances it failed to advance to the second round
• Florida was last eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament back in 2006, when it fell to 11th-seeded New Mexico
• Today marks the sixth time the Gators have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by a team seeded below them
• Florida made one of its final 12 field goal attempts
• Today was the first time all season the Gators lost a game when they entered the fourth quarter with a lead
• Florida shot just 20 percent (6 of 30) in the second half of this afternoon's loss
• The Gators led by as many as 17 points, and held an 11-point lead (57-46) at the 7:49 mark of the fourth quarter