The University of Florida women's basketball overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and outscored No. 18 Auburn 45-24 in the second half to post a 71-60 victory at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in the regular season finale for both teams. With the victory, the Gators (18-9, 8-6 SEC) locked up the No. 4 seed in next week's Southeastern Conference and receive a first-round bye.
UF plays the winner of the first round game between Georgia and South Carolina on Friday at 7 p.m. (ET) at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Senior All-American Vanessa Hayden led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor, while grabbing five rebounds and blocking six shots. As impressive as Hayden was for the Gators, the victory was truly a team effort. Bernice Mosby was instrumental in the second-half comeback, as she finished the game with 14 points and skied for team-high eight rebounds. Danielle Santos added 11 points in addition to dishing a career-high seven assists with just one turnover. The Gators shots 53.8 percent (14-26) in the second half against an Auburn defense that ranked third nationally for opponent field goal percentage, that held its foes to a 32.4 percent clip. UF shot 41.7 percent for the game from the floor, while hitting 12 of 18 from the free throw line.
"It was heart and grit that won this game," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "We got a little frustrated in the first half when Auburn made their run and we were down 10. But we talked about it in the locker room and we knew we had overcome this kind of deficit before. It took a little while for us to get rolling, but once we did things started flowing. We regrouped in the second half and the tide started to turn in our favor. We stayed aggressive. I cannot say enough about Bernice Mosby's performance in the second half. Vanessa was outstanding and made some great decisions on the block. I hate to talk about her passing ability, but she's a great passer."
Le'Coe Willingham led the Tigers with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Mandisa Stevenson added 10 points and 12 rebounds, as Auburn (21-7, 9-5 SEC) outrebounded the Gators 52-40, but shot just 28.2 percent (20-71) from the flooring during the game, including a 17.6 percent (6-34) effort in the decisive second half when UF outscored the Tigers 45-24.
Tashia Morehead led UF in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring nine straight points as the Gators exploded on a 27-12 spurt out of the locker room to erase a 36-25 deficit to take a 53-48 lead with 8:40 remaining. Vanessa Hayden powered her way for 10 tough points in the paint during the run, while Danielle Santos spread the Auburn defense by scoring eight points from the perimeter, including a three-pointer with 10:16 remaining in the game that gave UF a 49-46 lead and they would never trail again.
Louise Emeagi hit a deep jumper for Auburn to cut UF's lead to three, 53-50, but Hayden answered with a another power layin from under the bucket, where she was fouled. Hayden missed the free throw, but collected the loose ball. However, as Hayden moved toward the basket she was whistled for an offensive foul, her third personal of the game with 6:46 remaining. Natasha Brackett then capitalized on one of multiple offensive rebounds the Tigers collected on their next possession by nailing a three-pointer from the right side, bringing the score to 55-53.
But Bernice Mosby drove in the lane and hit a fall-away eight-footer to give the Gators a cushion. After Le'Coe Willingham sank a pair of free throws, Sarah Lowe canned a three-pointer from the right corner and then stole a pass on the other end of the floor, racing down the court for a layup. Lowe missed the short shot, but Tishona Gregory was there for the miss and was fouled as she attempted to put back the offensive rebound. Gregory made both from the charity stripe and the Gators took a 62-55 lead with 4:43 remaining in the game. Nitahsa Brown then converted two from the free throw line, but Mosby coolly stepped to the line and hit two for the Gators with 1:38 left in the game.
Auburn refused to go quietly and Natasha Brackett nailed a three-pointer from the right side of the arc with 1:26 remaining to close within four points, 64-60. However that was the last time the Tigers would score, as Hayden followed with another tough power jumper in the lane with 1:04 on the clock. Mosby then followed with three straight free throws and Hayden with two more with 18 seconds on the clock to close the scoring for the game.
Tishona Gregory scored five points during a 7-0 Gator spurt that gave UF a 21-16 lead with 6:53 remaining in the first half. However, UF went cold from the floor and Auburn ripped off a 20-5 run to a close the period and take a 36-26 halftime lead.
The Gators shot a sub-par 32.4 percent (11-34) from the floor against the nation's third-best field goal percentage defenders, which was exactly the average Auburn entered the game allowing its opponents to shoot from the field. UF also committed seven turnovers, which the Tigers converted into nine points.
Auburn shot 37.8 percent (14-37) from the floor and held a 27-21 rebounding advantage during the first 20 minutes.
Brittany Davis canned her first three-pointer of the season, which was just the second trey of her career, to give the Gators a 7-4 lead with 15:35 remaining in the first half. Neither team could score for the next two minutes until Nicole Louden tied the game with a long three-pointer from the right side. The teams then continued to trade baskets, as the first half featured six lead changes and seven tied scores until the Tigers closed the final 4:14 of the period on a 14-2 run.
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