Sarah Lowe's driving layup rolled around the rim and fell out at the buzzer, as Florida lost to Kentucky 49-47 in Memorial Coliseum in front of 822. Vanessa Hayden recorded 15 points with 17 rebounds, but her effort wasn't enough to snap the Gator's losing streak, which extended to 12 games.
"This is extremely disappointing," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "We led at halftime for the first time in SEC play. I challenged the team in the locker room to continue their play in the second half, but we didn't come out strong at all. Defensively, we played well, but we didn't take care of the basketball. Down the stretch we were nervous because we finally had a chance to win a game, but our youth came out and Kentucky's veterans, especially Rita Adams, took advantage."
Tamia Williams' 3-pointer from the corner gave Florida (8-16, 0-11 SEC) a 45-44 lead with just over two minutes remaining, but Kentucky answered with five straight points, including a 3-pointer from Rita Adams with 1:17 left in the contest. Hayden answered for with an 8-footer for Florida with one minute to play. Kentucky (10-13, 3-8 SEC) couldn't convert on its next offensive possession and UF garnered the rebound. But Tishona Gregory dribbled the ball off her leg and into the arms of Danyelle Payne, who was fouled immediately with 10.3 seconds remaining. It was only the Gator's fifth foul of the half, so UF was forced to foul twice more quickly to send UK to the free throw line. Rita Adams missed the front end of the free throw with seven seconds remaining and Mosby collected the rebound. The Gators flew down the court, but Sarah Lowe's layup rimmed around and fell out as the buzzer sounded.
Williams was the only other Gator scoring in double-figures, recording 11 in the loss for Florida, which was starting its 14th different starting lineup this season. The Gators shot 31.3 percent from the field during the game, including a 37.5 percent effort in the second half, when UF committed 11 of their 17 turnovers.
Adams was UK's only double-figure scorer, adding 13 in the winning effort.
Kentucky opened the second half hitting a 3-pointer to negate Florida's halftime lead and take a 21-20 advantage. The teams traded baskets for the next three minutes until Jennifer Humphrey completed a three-point play and Keiko Tate hit a wide open jumper to give the Wildcats a four-point lead, forcing the Gators to take a timeout. But turnovers and poor shooting by Florida helped UK extend its run to 10 straight points, as the Gators took a 32-24 lead with 14:38 remaining in the game.
Vanessa Hayden stopped the Wildcat spree with one free throw and Danielle Santos followed with a 10-footer, but Rita Adams answered with a 3-pointer to prevent a Gator run. Hayden countered with an offensive put-back and then connected on an 8-footer over a pair of defenders to bring UF within four, 35-31, with 11:37 left in the contest. After SeSe Helm hit one free throw for UK, Hayden collected another offensive rebound and drove to the basket for another two points, cutting the deficit to three. However, Sara Potts canned a long trey and Danyelle Payne converted a three-point play to give the Wildcats a 42-33 lead, their largest of the game.
Hayden collected an offensive rebound and found Tamia Williams underneath the basket to stop the run. Helm countered with a 10-footer in the paint, but Williams canned a 3-pointer and Bernice Mosby followed with a driving layup, but missed the ensuing free throw. However, Hayden collected the miss and was fouled. Unfortunately, Hayden missed the front end of her attempt from the charity stripe, but Mosby came up with a steal and Sarah Lowe made UK pay with a soft jumper from the corner. Florida then came away with another Wildcat miscue and Mosby found Williams in the corner and hit a 3-pointer to give the Gators a 45-44 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the game.
Danyelle Payne stopped UF's 10-0 run with a bucket with just over two minutes remaining and Rita Adams followed with a deep 3-pointer with 1:17 on the clock to give Kentucky a 49-45 lead. Hayden answered for with an 8-footer for Florida with one minute to play. Kentucky couldn't convert on its next offensive possession and UF garnered the rebound. But Tishona Gregory dribbled the ball off her leg and into the arms of Danyelle Payne, who was fouled immediately with 10.3 seconds remaining. It was only the Gator's fifth foul of the half, so UF was forced to foul twice more quickly to send UK to the free throw line. Rita Adams missed the front end of the free throw with seven seconds remaining and Mosby collected the rebound. The Gators flew down the court, but Sarah Lowe's layup rimmed around and fell out as the buzzer sounded.
The Gators committed a turnover on their first four of their first five possessions without converting a shot, but Kentucky couldn't take full advantage and managed to take only a 4-0 lead. Vanessa Hayden got Florida on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws at the 16:54 mark and then Brittany Davis converted a layup from a beautifully placed pass from Sarah Lowe to tie the game less than one minute later. After the teams exchanged baskets, Lowe hit one free throw to give the Gators a 7-6 lead, their first of the game. Hayden extended the lead to three with a short jumper, but Shambrica Jones answered with a 2-footer around Davis. On UF's next possession, Hayden received a pass inside and was triple-teamed, but found a wide-open Davis who connected on a short jumper.
Kentucky tied the game at 11-all, but Florida responded with buckets from Davis and Dalila Eshe. However, Rita Adams hit five straight points and gave the Wildcats a 16-15 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. Davis then found Bernice Mosby under the basket as UF regained the lead with a little under five minutes remaining in the half. Both teams went cold from the floor until Tamia Williams canned a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to give the Gators a 20-16 lead with 1:07 left until halftime. Kentucky worked the final possession to perfection as Shambrica Jones hit a 10-foot fall-away jumper just before the horn sounded.
Florida led 20-18 entering the locker room, marking the first time the Gators held a halftime lead since December 11 against Central Florida. It was a stretch of 14 games that saw Florida trailing after the first period of action.
It wasn't a pretty first half, with Florida shooting just 25 percent (8-32) from the field, including a 1-of-11 effort from the 3-point line. Kentucky didn't fair much better, hitting 26.7 percent (8-30) from the field, but did hold a 24-21 rebounding advantage. The Gators committed seven turnovers in the opening period and the Wildcats tallied 11 miscues. There were three lead changes and three tied during the opening half, with neither team able to build more than a four-point lead.
END OF REPORT
