Gator senior Danielle Santos (Marietta, Ga.) had a big night, narrowly missing her first career double-double while senior forward Dalila Eshe (Tallahassee) scored a game-high 23 points, but it was not enough as the Florida women's basketball team dropped an 80-65 decision to Kentucky at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Thursday evening.
The loss was the second consecutive for Florida (13-3, 1-2 SEC), which had its nine-game home winning streak snapped.
Jenny Pfeiffer's season-high 23 points led UK (12-3, 2-1 SEC), which had four players reach double-figures. Eleina Roddy posted a double-double with 14 boards and 10 points, while Carly Ormerod poured in 16 points and Samantha Mahoney totaled 13 on the evening. All but one Wildcat pulled down a rebound, and Jennifer Humphrey grabbed 19 rebounds alone for Kentucky which out-rebounded Florida 55-39. The bulk of Pfeiffer's point total came from six three-pointers, helping the Wildcats hit nine during the game and shoot 42.4 percent for the game, including a 48.4 percent clip in the second half.
Despite trailing 13-9 early on in the contest, Kentucky put together a 16-5 run over a seven minute stretch in the first half to take control of the game. Santos knotted the score at 33-33 with a three-pointer at the 1:12 mark, but the Wildcats hit the final shot of the period to take a 35-33 lead at halftime, UF's fifth consecutive game trailing after the first 20 minutes.
“I don't think we maintained the level of intensity like Kentucky tonight,” Florida head coach Carolyn Peck said. “Lots of games are decided by intensity in the second half. Their intensity was very good in the second half. They got several second chance shots, while we didn't. They did a good job of capitalizing on our mistakes.”
The Gators made just 12 of their 33 first half shots and were only 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in the game's opening 20 minutes and fell behind by as many as 11 at 33-22. However, the Orange and Blue was still able to tie the score at 33-33 before the Wildcats added a lay-up at the buzzer to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room.
The second half wasn't much better for the UF offense. The Wildcats stormed out of the locker room in the second half, scoring 13 of the period's first 20 points to stretch their lead back out to eight at 48-40. Florida, which got within three points three times during the final period, shot a dismal 28.6 (10-of-35) from the field while Kentucky countered with a 48.4 percent mark (15-of-31) as they ran away in the end.
“We started missing shots, and we started losing confidence,” Peck added. “Defensively, we came down and forced a missed shot but couldn't get a rebound. It took the wind out of our sails. We missed a lot of defensive assignments. We know who their shooters are, and we left their shooters wide open. We have got to correct that.”
Kentucky out-rebounded Florida 55-39 and outscored 16-11 in second chance points. The Wildcats also received 36 points off their bench, while Florida was only able to get 11 from the non-starters.
“I think they did a very good job of pushing the basketball,” Peck said. “They had some good post play off their bench. It's a matter of either team finishing on defense. We have to get better on defense.”
Santos finished the night with 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while senior Brittany Davis (Gainesville, Fla.) added 15 and extended her streak at the free throw line to 21 consecutive makes.
“Ole Miss has always been known for their rebounding,” Peck said about the team's next opponent. “We will be working on our defense between now and when we go to Ole Miss working on our defense some more.”
The Gators travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. Tip-off from the Tad Smith Coliseum is set for 8 p.m. EST. Fans can follow along with the action to the call of Steve Babik and Steve Russell on the Gator Radio Network.
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