The 10th-ranked Florida women's basketball team (14-2, 3-1 SEC) extended its home win streak to 12 games with a 72-59 victory over the Auburn Tigers (13-6, 1-4 SEC) in the SEC home opener for the Lady Gators at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Thursday night.
"We didn't play great tonight, but it was a great win," Florida head coach
Carol Ross said. "It was a typical SEC slugfest, but we hung in there. Our defense kept us in the game when our offense was not executing as well as we would have liked."
The Lady Gators led the entire first half, though it was close most of the way. Florida led by as much as eight early in the half until the Tigers cut the lead to two at 30-28 at the 3:25 mark. The Lady Gators then closed out the half with an 11-4 run to take a 41-32 lead to the locker room.
Florida took control of the game in the second half, pushing its lead to 12 early in the final period. The Lady Gators led by as much as 15 during the second half en route to the 13-point victory.
Florida was led by senior center
Tamara Stocks (Pickerington, Ohio) with 18 points. Junior forward
Naomi Mobley (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to post her eighth double-double this season. Junior guard
Brandi McCain (Silsbee, Texas) and senior guard
Tombi Bell (Miami, Fla.) added 13 points apiece for the Lady Gators.
Sophomore guard
Sherisha Hills (Tampa, Fla.) injured her right knee with 4:48 remaining in the game. She will have an MRI on Friday to evaluate the extent of the injury.
Auburn was led by junior guard Carol Smith with 23 points. She was the only double-figure scorer for the Tigers, who committed 21 turnovers and shot just 33.9 percent (19-for-56) from the field.
"We were trying to break down their defensive pressure," Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi said. "Our scoring ability was taken away by a great Florida defense."
The Lady Gators will be back in action on Sunday, January 21, when they travel to Columbia, S.C., to take on the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks. Tip off for the game is set for 3 p.m.
