Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought decision to Gardner-Webb, 60-58, Tuesday afternoon in the team's 2018-19 season opener at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Redshirt-senior Funda Nakkasoglu led the way with a game-high 22 points while Delicia Washington added 14 and Zada Williams, in her first game as a Florida Gator, collected her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

With nine seconds remaining in regulation, the Gators held the final possession with a chance to tie or take the lead. After a broken play, the sharpshooter Nakkasoglu, ended up with the ball in her hands and hoisted a deep three-pointer that would have put the Gators ahead, but her attempt with three seconds remaining rimmed out.

Florida finished the game shooting 25-of-60 from the field (41.7%) and outrebounded its opponent, 44-34. The matchup featured 12 lead changes, including four in the final quarter of play.

A Washington jumper gave the Gators a 58-53 edge with 1:35 left on the clock, but Florida would not score again as Gardner-Webb finished the contest on a 7-0 run.

Savanna Plentovich carried the load offensively for Gardner-Webb, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Her twin sister, Carley, added 15 points including five three-pointers while Neydja Petithomme rounded out Gardner-Webb's group of double figure scorers with 10.  

Florida got off to a strong start and led the Runnin' Bulldogs, 17-9 after the first quarter. But Gardner-Webb would outscore the Gators 36-25 in the second and third quarters combined during what was a pivotal stretch of basketball. Florida shot 0-of-13 from distance over this span.

After Gardner-Webb scored the game's first basket, UF responded with an 8-0 run and held an 8-4 lead heading into the game's first media timeout with 4:54 remaining in the opening stanza. Florida maintained its lead until mid-way through the second quarter when Gardner-Webb utilized a 5-0 run to take the lead, 29-27. Florida responded with a 4-0 spurt of its own and held the Runnin' Bulldogs scoreless over the final three minutes of the half to own the half time advantage.

Gardner-Webb connected on seven of its 13 shots in the second quarter, including a 3-of-5 mark from distance. Florida carried a 31-29 advantage into the intermission despite being outscored by Gardner-Webb 20-14 in the frame.

In the third, Gardner-Webb outscored Florida by a tally of 16-11 fueled by Carley Plentovich's nine points in the period.

Florida fought back in the fourth, outscoring the Runnin' Bulldogs and registering its best shooting performance of any quarter as it connected on 7-of-15 (46.6%) attempts. The Gators, mounted a lead as large as five - their largest since the first quarter - but could not overcome the persistent play of Gardner-Webb down the stretch.

With 40 seconds remaining UF led 48-47, but Gardner-Webb's Savannah Plentovich converted on a contested-runner in the lane to propel the Runnin' Bulldogs ahead. After a timeout, the Gators now trailing with 30 seconds to go, turned the ball over the ensuing possession and were forced to foul. With nine seconds to play, Savannah Plentovich split a pair of attempts at the charity stripe which precluded the Gators' final possession.

Kiara Smith added six rebounds, three assists and three rebounds for the Gators while freshmen Ariel Johnson, Kristina Moore and Emanuely de Oliveira all scored their first collegiate baskets.

Florida returns to action Sunday, Nov. 11 when it travels to Florida State to battle the Seminoles in the Fresh From Florida Showdown in Tallahassee. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. ET.

Notables

• Funda Nakkasoglu has now made a 3-pointer in 24-straight games which is the second-longest streak in program history as she passed Jordan Jones (23) and sits six games behind the leader Brandi McCain (30)
• Zada Williams (who played two seasons at Miami before transferring to UF) set new career highs for rebounds (10), points (12) and steals (3).

• The Gators fall to 26-19 all time in season opener which includes a 17-7 mark in season openers played at home.

Quotes from the Court

Head Coach Cameron Newbauer
"Hats off to Coach [Alex] Simmons in her first game as a head coach. It has to be awesome for her and her program. They outplayed us in a number of areas. Hats off to the Plentovich twins. We knew they were shooters and had talked about it all week. We had to find them, they hit eight threes. We have to be stronger and smarter with the ball. We have to play more together and that's part of this process with having a young team. We played hard in moments and in spurts, but not always the smartest and that's something we've been talking about. In the first half, we had twelve offensive rebounds and in the second half we had four. We didn't keep attacking as aggressively on the offensive glass as we'd like. We made some plays down the stretch. We got some looks that we wanted that just didn't go down and that's all part of it. Delicia [Washington] and Funda [Nakkasoglu] are in a completely different realm of what's being asked of them in terms of leadership. They're doing a terrific job of trying to do the best they can at that role. I know we have a group that's going to take this loss, learn from it, and come back ready to go on Thursday and get better. It's frustrating and nobody likes to lose, but it's part of the game so we'll take it and learn from it."

#00 Delicia Washington, Junior, Guard
On being one of the most experienced players on the court…
"Funda and I have been through this and we have been in this role before, so we just have to teach the newcomers the role that Coach Cam wants us to play. We have to stick together as a team and fight it out. We have to show them what it takes to be in the SEC and play at the next level."
 
# 3 Funda Nakkasoglu, Redshirt-Senior, Guard
On how the ball felt coming out of her hand on the final play…
"You always have to be confident in yourself when your number is called to take a shot like that. I practice those shots in case my number is called. Having my teammates and coaches behind me. You have to go in confident. When I pulled the shot, I was as confident as I was with any other shot I had taken today. Some days they go in and some days they miss – today it just didn't fall."

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