Senior Tamia Williams led Florida with 20 points, while Bernice Mosby added 17 en route to being named most valuable player of the State Farm Classic as the Gators scored a season high in points in defeating Charlotte 86-72 Thursday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Florida (8-4) won its home tournament for the 12th time in the 14-year history of the event, with Mosby also standing as the 12th Gator to win MVP honors at the State Farm Classic, an award she also claimed in 2002.
Williams was 8-of-13 in the contest, including 4-for-7 from behind the arc, in leading the Gators to tying their season best for field goal percentage at 46.7 (32-59), which included a 62.1-percent (18-29) clip in the second half. Florida finished with 20 assists on the evening, while also outrebounding Charlotte 42-38.
"One of the concerns with facing Charlotte was fatigue due to the pace that they play and I think our team showed a lot of mental toughness tonight," Florida coach Carolyn Peck said. "It was a total team effort. We got contributions from everyone and I'm really proud of the way this team played."
Brittany Davis also added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Gators with Dalila Eshe chipping in 11 points for Florida as nine of 10 players who played scored. Pam Brown paced Charlotte (11-2) with 23 points.
Florida used a critical 21-5 run midway through a blistering offensive second half in taking control of a tight contest as the Gators saw their lead swell from four points to a 75-55 advantage with less than five minutes remaining. Eshe had eight points in the stretch with Williams adding five.
Both teams began the second half on a torrid offensive pace with the Gators outscoring Charlotte 16-14 in just the first 5:23 of the half. Williams got things going for Florida with a trey before Davis scored five straight Gator points on a layup and a conventional three-point play. After a basket from Tishona Gregory at 16:15, Florida led 48-39. But Charlotte came back with six of the next eight points before Williams again extended the Gators' lead to nine at 54-45 with her second 3-pointer of the half.
The 49ers again rallied, coming within four at 54-50 at 12:29. Following a Florida timeout, the Gators scored seven points in exactly one minute with another trey from Williams followed by a pair of baskets from Mosby to push Florida's lead to 11 at 61-50 with 11:10 left in the game. Following a Charlotte field goal, Florida went on a 10-2 run with Eshe contributing four points as the Gators went on top 71-54 with 7:22 remaining. Florida pushed its lead to 75-55 with 4:33 left after an Eshe basket as the 49ers didn't come closer than 14 points the rest of the game.
The first half began as a see-saw affair with the two teams trading scores back and forth. Florida built a small lead when Williams drained a three with 13:57 remaining to give the Gators a 17-12 advantage. Charlotte fought back and eventually tied the contest at 22-22 and 24-24, but Florida closed out the half by outscoring the 49ers 14-7 in the final 5:37 of the half.
Davis began the run after hauling in an offensive board and notching a putback before adding a pair of free throws at the 5:16 mark to give the Gators a four-point lead. Williams added a bucket before Mosby chimed in with a layup in concluding Florida's 8-0 run. After three points from Charlotte, Mosby added a jumper to push Florida's lead back to seven at 34-27. Davis then added two more free throws, which were followed by four straight 49er points. Sarah Lowe then capped the half with a jumper as time expired to give the Gators their 38-31 halftime lead.
In the opening contest of the evening, Boston University (5-4) fended off a late rally before defeating Florida A&M (3-7) 70-65 to take third place. The Terriers led 64-57 with two minutes remaining before the Rattlers battled back within three at 68-65 with 16 seconds remaining, but a pair of free throws from Boston University's Cheri Raffo sealed the win for the Terriers. Rachael Vanderwal led the Terriers with 13 points and 10 assists, while Ariel Towns posted a game-high 18 points for Florida A&M.
Florida returns to action Sunday, Jan. 2 when the Gators will face South Florida in a Sunshine Network televised contest slated for a 3 p.m. start at the O'Connell Center.
2004 State Farm Classic All-Tournament Team
Bernice Mosby, Florida (MVP)
Pam Brown, Charlotte
Quidara Russell, Florida A&M
Rachael Vanderwal, Boston University
Tamia Williams, Florida
END OF REPORT
