Tamia Williams scored 15 points, while Tishona Gregory added 12, but it wasn't enough as Florida battled No. 3 LSU much closer than the final 64-47 score might indicate Thursday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Tigers (15-1 overall, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) used an 18-8 run in the late stages of the second half in turning what had been a close game into a relatively comfortable win as the Gators (11-5, 2-1) dropped their first conference game of the season and had their five-game winning streak snapped.
"I thought our biggest challenge would be rebounding and we took care of that tonight," Florida coach Carolyn Peck said. "It was a tough defensive game and you have to give LSU credit. Sometimes we didn't make good decisions with the ball tonight."
Bernice Mosby added 15 rebounds for the Gators, just three shy of her career high, as the Gators outrebounded LSU 43-34. Florida was plagued by a season-high 24 turnovers, but the Gators remained in the contest until the latter stages until the Tigers pulled away. Florida held LSU to 40.7 percent shooting as the Tigers entered the contest ranked eighth in the nation while shooting at a 47.4 clip. LSU's 64-point output was the second-lowest for the Tigers this season.
"It was by no means a pretty win, but it's a win and we'll take it," LSU coach Pokey Chatman said. "Both teams played extremely hard defensively."
Williams hit double figures in points for the eighth time in her last nine games and led the Gators in scoring for the fifth straight game. Seimone Augustus led the Tigers with 18 points.
LSU opened the second half by outscoring the Gators 6-3 in the first 3:30 with a 3-pointer by Gregory representing Florida's points as the Tigers went ahead 31-21. But the Gators fought back within five after a jumper from Gregory followed by a trey from Tashia Morehead cut the lead to 31-26 with 13:12 left.
The two teams then traded baskets before LSU extended its lead to eight at 36-28 with 9:47 to go. After a pair of free throws from Sarah Lowe, the Tigers hit a 3-pointer to bring their lead to nine at 39-30. Williams responded with a trey from the corner to bring Florida back within six at 39-33 with 9:06 left.
The Tigers then scored six straight points in less than a minute in building a 45-33 lead that the Gators never overcame the rest of the way. Florida came as close as eight points at 47-39 after a layup from Williams, but the Tigers then scored five straight in taking a 52-39 advantage with 5:41 left.
The Gators scored the opening five points of the contest when Williams sank a 3-pointer and followed with a jumper at the 17:23 mark. LSU then went on a 13-2 run to go on top 13-7 with 10:53 remaining in the half as the Gators suffered through a stretch where they turned the ball over on seven of eight possessions.
The Tigers extended their lead to eight at 17-9 with 8:33 left before the Gators scored four straight. Morehead found Briana Phillips underneath with 4:33 remaining before Dalila Eshe added a bucket on a runner to bring the Gators within four at 17-13 with 3:50 left.
The Tigers then tallied five straight points before Morehead answered with a trey at the 2:09 mark to bring the Gators within six at 22-16. LSU responded with a 3-pointer before Eshe canned a pair of free throws with 30.2 seconds in the half to close the scoring and cut the Tigers' lead to 25-18 entering the locker room. The 25 points for LSU was its lowest halftime total so far this season.
Florida returns to action Sunday, Jan. 16 when the Gators travel to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina in a 2 p.m. start.
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