Vanessa Hayden scored a season-high 20 points with 12 rebounds and six blocks, but it wasn't enough to carry the Florida women's basketball team to a win, as the Gators lost a 69-65 thriller to Alabama at Coleman Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
Freshman Bernice Mosby was the only other Gator to net double-figures, scoring 17 with six rebounds, as Florida lost its 11th consecutive game and fell to 8-15 overall, 0-10 in the Southeastern Conference.
Jamilah Johns was the star for Alabama, recording 18 points, while hitting 8-of-8 from the free throw line, which included a pair from the charity stripe with five seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Tide (12-12, 2-9 SEC). Beth Vice broke out of a mini scoring slump with a 17-point performance, nailing three 3-pointers.
Florida started its 13th different lineup of the season, but it wasn't enough to extend its three-game winning streak against Alabama.
Early foul trouble limited playing time for Hayden, who still was able to post her sixth double-double of the year and the 32nd of her career while playing 24 minutes.
The Gators next continue their two-game conference road trip traveling to Lexington for a Thursday contest against Kentucky.
"Even though we didn't come away with a win, we continue to show signs of improvement," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "We scored 65 points and we had been struggling on the offensive end. There is not a lot of room for mistakes in the SEC and we just had a couple of possessions where we broke down. That was a big difference tonight."
Alabama scored the first four points of the second half, extending a 40-32 halftime lead to 12 points. Vanessa Hayden got Florida on the board with four straight points before the teams continued to trade baskets for the next four minutes, with neither club able to make a run.
Bernice Mosby completed a three-point play and Hayden followed with another to lead a 6-0 run and cut the Crimson Tide advantage to six points, 52-46, with 11:25 remaining in the game. Jamilah Johns stopped the run with a pair of free throws, as the teams again traded baskets for the ensuing five-plus minutes. But UA's Beth Vice launched a 3-pointer to extend the Tide's lead back to nine points, 59-50, with 6:15 on the clock.
Sarah Lowe hit a pair of free throws with 5:21 remaining and followed that with a 3-pointer from the left corner to get Florida within three points 61-58, but Vice countered with a deep jumper to stop UF's momentum. However, Hayden followed with an offensive put-back and Tishona Gregory nailed a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc to tie the game at 63-all with 1:22 remaining.
Johns hit a jumper in the paint to give UA a 65-63 lead with just under one minute remaining. Florida came down, but Mosby's shot from the corner bounced out and Alabama collected the rebound before Lowe fouled Monique Bivins. She missed the front end of the 1-plus-1 and the Gators snared the miss. But as Florida got into its offensive set, Hayden was called for an offensive foul with 17.1 seconds remaining, giving Alabama the ball. Florida immediately fouled on the inbound and Vice made a pair of free throws, giving UA a 66-63 lead with 16 seconds left. Tishona Gregory came down the floor and hit a driving layup and UF called a timeout with 7 seconds on the clock. Again, UF fouled on the in-bounds pass and Johns converted both from the charity stripe to seal the win.
With Alabama leading 12-11 with 14:55 left in the first half, Vanessa Hayden sparked a 7-0 run, which included a Danielle Santos 3-point, to take an 18-12 advantage. But Beth Vice nailed back-to-back treys to ignite a 13-2 spree over the next nine minutes to give the Crimson Tide a 31-22 lead with under five minutes remaining in the period. During the span, Hayden, who had been UF's top scorer with seven points, was whistled for her second foul and went to the bench after playing just six minutes.
Florida regrouped and produced a mini 5-0 run with the aide of three free throws, but Alabama responded with an identical run and the teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, as the Gators trailed 40-32 at halftime.
UF shot 40 percent (12-of-30) in the first half, while Alabama hit 45.7 percent (16-35). The Gators committed nine turnovers, while the Crimson Tide had four miscues.
Despite playing just six minutes, Hayden remained UF's leading scorer, recording seven with four rebounds. Bernice Mosby came on late and also netted seven points during the opening half. UA' s Jamilah Johns led all scorers with 12 points.
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