Tamia Williams led the Gators with 22 points, one point shy of her career high, but it wasn't enough for Florida to upset No. 22/20 Vanderbilt, falling 76-69 Sunday afternoon at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Florida (14-11, 5-7 SEC) trailed for all except the first three minutes of the game, having to play catch-up for nearly the entire ballgame. After Vanderbilt (19-6, 8-4 SEC) slowly built a largest lead of game, 14 points with 12:47 remaining in the contest, the Gators rallied with an 18-7 run over the next seven-plus minutes. The spree was capped by a mid-court steal from Danielle Santos (Marietta, Ga.) who dished the ball to Sarah Lowe (Wynnewood, Pa.), who drove hard to the basket and picked up a foul after sinking her lay-up which cut Vandy's lead to three at 62-59 with 5:11 left to play.
That would the closest the Gators could until Lowe sank another pair of free throws to leave it 69-72 with 58 seconds to play. From there, the Commodores were perfect from the free throw line, hitting 10-of-10 in the final 2:39 to secure the win.
Bernice Mosby (Brooksville, Fla.) added 12 points while Tashia Morehead (Panama City, Fla.) contributed 11 points for Florida, which shot 44.6 percent (25-56) from the floor, but committed 16 turnovers that led to 23 Commodore points.
"We didn't take care of business inside," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "We were looking for answers to stop their players from scoring in the paint."
Vanderbilt's frontcourt of Carla Thomas and Ashley Earley combined for 44 points and 17 rebounds, helping the Commodores shoot 50.9 percent (28-55) from the floor. Dee Davis added 12 points, hitting 10-of-10 from the free throw line for VU which shot 18-of-20 as a team. Early also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her 21 points, while Earley blocked four shots with her game-high 23 points.
In the first half, the scored was locked at eight points a piece, before Vanderbilt established its lead and would slowly extend upon it. The Gators survived a drawn-out 19-6 run by Vanderbilt that lasted over eight minutes, finishing off the period with three-pointers from Williams and Morehead to get within eight, 39-31, at halftime.
Florida will close its regular season home schedule when Georgia comes to play at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Thursday, Feb. 24. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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