On a day in which the Florida women's basketball team honored its alumnae, the Gators turned in one of head coach Amanda Butler's trademark gritty, relentless and never-give-up performances, but fell just short in a 103-97 double-overtime loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Sophomore forward Jennifer George (Orlando, Fla.) turned in her third career double-double with a team-high 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in 34 minutes of action to lead four Gators scoring in double figures. Florida (14-11, 4-7 Southeastern Conference) placed four players in double-figure scoring for the fourth time this season.
Vanderbilt shot a blistering 55.4 percent (36-of-65) from the field – the best by a UF opponent this year – and connected on 28-of-41 free throws, with the number of attempts the eighth-most by a Gator foe in program history.
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“It was an absolutely amazing game and a great game for our fans to see and really appreciate the level of basketball that is being played in this league,” said Butler, a Gator alumna herself who earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from UF. “It was two great teams, and I thought both teams battled really hard. It is unfortunate we ended up on the losing end, but I thought we had some great individual performances. If I had to point to one thing as to why was ultimately didn't prevail, I would look at the first 20 minutes, not anything in the second half or double overtime. I thought we played some great basketball in those segments.”
With Florida trailing by six, 80-74, after a pair of free throws by Vandy's Stephanie Holzer with 2:17 remaining in regulation, the Gators began to engineer a late-game comeback. George connected on a basket at the 1:57 mark to narrow her team's deficit to four. After a Vanderbilt free throw, junior forward Ndidi Madu (Antioch, Tenn.) knocked down a jumper to cut within three, 81-78, with 1:14 left.
Jasmine Lister drained a jumper for Vanderbilt with 47.3 seconds remaining, putting the Commodores up 83-78. George connected on a basket in deep leading into a Florida timeout. Trailing by three, 83-80, freshman guard Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) forced a steal in the backcourt and junior guard Deana Allen (Houma, La.) drilled a three-pointer with 22.4 seconds left to knot the score at 83-all.
With Vanderbilt setting up its last possession in regulation, Allen fouled Lister and the freshman nailed both of her free throws to put the Commodores ahead by two with 20 ticks on the clock. Junior guard Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, Fla.) drove the lane at the other end, missing a lay-up, before George connected on the put-back to tie the score at 85-85 with 12 seconds remaining. Vanderbilt could not convert on its final possession as a Jence Rhoads' three-pointer went just off the mark as time expired.
The first overtime period was a back-and-forth five-minute span when neither team had more than a two-point advantage. With the score tied at 90-all and 37 seconds remaining in the initial extra frame, Madu missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation with 37 seconds on the clock, but the Commodores turned the ball over on their final possession, sending the game into a second overtime.
Vanderbilt's Hannah Tuomi put the Commodores on the board in the second overtime with a put-back off a missed free throw by Tiffany Clarke at the 3:38 mark of the second overtime. A floater from the right win by Rhoads widened Vanderbilt's lead to four, 94-90, with 3:17 left. The Gators knocked down three free throws before Angela Puleo drained a three-pointer from the right wing falling down to give the Dores the 97-93 edge with 2:08 remaining.
A basket in deep by George with 1:38 left allowed Florida to cut within two, 97-95, but Tuomi knocked down two free throws with 1:28 left in the game to seal the victory.
“What we have talked about in the locker room is that you have a choice whether you can get down on yourself or you can continue to let it fuel our next performance,” Butler said. “It is not an option to hang your head. There is still a lot of basketball to be played. Certainly, we have been tried and tested, and I just believe that we are going to be rewarded at some points for pushing through and not hanging our heads.”
Freshman guard Brittany Shine (Sacramento, Calif.) scored 19 points – her most in an SEC game in her career – in 23 minutes of action, while Allen added a career-high 18 points. Bartley charted a career-high 16 points in a career-high 37 minutes of action.
The Gators shot 39.2 percent (38-of-97) from the floor in the game. The Commodores won the battle of the boards 51-50. Vanderbilt's post presence was dominant as nearly half (52 of 103) of its points came in the paint.
Vanderbilt took a 41-30 advantage into the locker room at intermission after shooting a blistering 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the opening period. The Gators shot 31.6 percent (12-of-38) from the floor in the first half, but stayed in the game thanks to four three-pointers in the opening half. The Commodores held a 23-20 advantage on the boards at intermission and controlled points in the paint 24-16.
The Gators and Commodores battled closely to begin the game with Florida connecting on two three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game to spark its offense. After a number of early lead changes that resulted in Vanderbilt trailing 10-9, the Commodores used an 8-2 run that was powered by four points from Holzer to jump ahead 17-12 at the 14:17 mark of the opening period. Shine then drained a three-pointer to bring the Gators within two, 17-15, with 12:37 remaining in the half.
Leading 19-17, Vanderbilt began adding to its advantage with three consecutive baskets, including two consecutive by Holzer, to go up 25-17 at the 10:38 mark and force Butler to burn a timeout. From there, a hoop by Bartley and a three by Allen from the right win allowed Florida to cut within three, 25-22, with 9:33 left in the half. The Gators then employed a 5-2 run to knot the score at 27-all on a Bonds lay-up with 7:54 remaining in the period. Back-to-back lay-ups by Vanderbilt's Clarke within a 20-second sparked a 6-0 run that put it ahead by six, 33-27. The Gators were held without a field goal for the final 4:24 of the first half and the Commodores out-scored Florida 8-1 during that span, as well as 14-3 after Bonds tied the score.
The two squads traded baskets to start the second half until the Gators got back-to-back baskets from Madu to cut within seven, 47-40, with 16:27 left. Trailing 49-40, Bonds drained a three-pointer and Bartley connected on a three-point play to whittle Florida's deficit down to three, 49-45, at the 15:10 mark. The Commodores then began building on their lead with a 10-3 run to take a 59-48 advantage with 12:17 remaining. Holzer and Lister each had five points during that scoring spree before the Gators began their late-game comeback.
Vanderbilt (16-7, 7-3 SEC) were led by three players who each scored 20 or more points. Clarke and Holzer led the way with 23 points apiece. Clarke charted a double-double by adding a team-high 13 rebounds.
Florida returns to action on No. 5/4 Thursday when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on Tennessee. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be carried live on FS South and on WBXY-FM in Gainesville.
POST-GAME NOTES
· Florida drops to 14-11 overall and 4-7 in Southeastern Conference play, while Vanderbilt improves to 16-7 overall, 7-3 in league play.
· The Commodores lead the all-time series between the two teams 30-18 and hold an 11-10 advantage when the game is played in Gainesville. The 48-game series is now the third-longest against any opponent for Florida in program history.
· The Gators are now 8-10 overall when playing on Super Bowl Sunday, including a 5-3 mark at home.
· Sixteen of Florida's 24 games this season have been decided by 10 or fewer points with 11 being six-point differences.
· Florida drops to 3-6 this season when trailing at halftime and 0-5 when being outrebounded.
· The Gators gave up 103 points to Vanderbilt, marking the first time Florida has allowed an opponent to reach the century mark since Vanderbilt scored 105 points against the Gators on March 2, 2007, in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals.
· Florida used the starting lineup of Deana Allen, Lanita Bartley, Jennifer George, Jordan Jones and Azania Stewart for the first time this season. It is the eighth different starting lineup the Gators have implemented in 25 games this season.
· The Gators are now 17-16 all-time in overtime games, snapping a three-game winning streak in overtime games.
· Florida scored a season-high 97 points and hit the 90-point plateau for the second time this season. The Gators scored 95 points against Alabama State on Dec. 20.
· The Gators played their first double-overtime game since defeating Auburn, 71-68, on Jan. 7, 2010.
· Four Florida players recorded double-figure point totals for the fourth time this season. The Gators are 2-2 this year when four players score in double figures and 22-7 all-time under head coach Amanda Butler.
· Sophomore forward Jennifer George scored a season-high 20 points to lead all scorers in the game.
o George brought down a game-high 14 points, marking her career high. It bested her previous career high of 12 rebounds set against Old Dominion on Nov. 30.
o George logged her third career double-double and her second this season.
o George led the Gators in scoring for the fourth time this season and led the team in rebounding for the seventh time this season.
· Freshman guard Brittany Shine scored 19 points, marking the most she has scored in a conference game in her collegiate career.
· Junior guard Deana Allen scored a career-high 18 points, knocking down a career-high four three-pointers. Her previous career-high point total was 14 set at Georgia on Jan. 16.
· Junior guard Lanita Bartley played a career-high 37 minutes, scoring a personal-best 16 points.
· Junior center Azania Stewart posted a game-high three blocks to give her 119 rejections for her collegiate career. She needs two more blocks to tie former Gator great Tammy Jackson for fifth place on the school's all-time list with 121 career blocks.
POST-GAME QUOTES
FLORIDA HEAD COACH AMANDA BUTLER
“It was an absolutely amazing game and a great game for our fans to see and really appreciate the level of basketball that is being played in this league. It was two great teams, and I thought both teams battled really hard. It is unfortunate we ended up on the losing end, but I thought we had some great individual performances. If I had to point to one thing as to why was ultimately didn't prevail, I would look at the first 20 minutes, not anything in the second half or double overtime. I thought we played some great basketball in those segments.”
On the adjustments her team made at halftime …
“There were a few adjustments, mostly just mental adjustments. Tiffany Clarke is a very talented player and very strong. I was really disappointed with our post players in the first half and basically told them that they were defensively in charge for the rest of the ball game. I thought we fought a much better fight in the second half and had much better results. Again, you can't take any credit away from Tiffany and the game that she played.”
On Jaterra Bonds and Ndidi Madu playing limited minutes in the first half …
“We always just go with what is working and look at what worked during practice. A lot of times [Jennifer] George and Ndidi [Madu] share minutes and George was having a great ball game so she earned the minutes that she got. As far as Jaterra, I thought Lanita [Bartley] was playing really well and [Brittany] Shine was a good offensive spark for us.”
On fighting back throughout the game …
“I think we are showing great signs of what we can be and who we are going to become. We are just waiting for who we are going to become to show itself. We know it is there and we are just waiting for it to be there every possession.”
On getting tired of falling short in close games …
“I think it depends on how you look at it. That is what we were talking about in the locker room, you have a choice where you can get down on yourself or we can continue to get really mad and just let it fuel our next performance. It is not an option to hang your head, there is still a lot of basketball to be played. We have been committed to the idea of growing and getting better every week. Certainly we have been tried and tested and I just believe that we are going to be rewarded at some point for pushing through and not hanging our heads.”
FLORIDA PLAYERS
#3 Lanita Bartley, Jr., G
On going down hard in the paint late in the game …
“When I drove to the hole, she got under my legs and I fell on my back. I lost my breath and it was hard for me to catch it.”
On going back into the game after going down hard …
“I was just telling the trainer that I wanted to go back in and help my team. She asked if I was dizzy and I said I was fine. I just wanted to go back in and I told Coach that I was okay.”
On freshman guard Brittany Shine …
“I'm really proud of her. She takes a lot of [constructive] criticism from the whole team and she just keeps working hard. “
#23 Brittany Shine, Fr., G
On pumping the team up during the game …
“I just try to do whatever I can do to help us win. I've always been an emotional player and I just try to stay pumped up and keep the team pumped up.”
#32 Jennifer George, So., F
On excelling in the second half …
“I think I just found my rhythm in the second half. I think I was more aggressive in the second half than the first and I was just trying to get in on their rebounds more.”
On the importance of rebounding and what the team took from the Ole Miss game …
“We know that when we out-rebound other teams we're going to most likely win, so that's what we emphasize most of the time.”
VANDERBILT HEAD COACH MELANIE BALCOMB
“[Florida] made a couple of big runs, especially tying it up at home at the end when we had maintained control of the game for the whole game. I am really proud of our mental toughness. We talked about having to fix mental and physical toughness and communication, and I believe that's what we did down the stretch of this game."
On sophomore forward Tiffany Clarke's 23-point, 13-rebound performance …
"She has built up to this and has had constant improvement. She has been carrying over from a great practice player to now a great game player."
On Jence Rhoads' close shot at the end of regulation:
"I was killing myself because it was the same situation at Xavier [in the NCAA Tournament last year], where I didn't call a timeout and I had one. I talked to Jence after the season and told her it was because I wanted her to take her left-handed pull-up in transition. I talked to her about it and she took the shot I wanted and that's all I can ask. I thought it was going down, and next time it's going to go down."
