EVANSTON, Ill. – Through its first four games of the season, Florida had convincingly won each of the fourth quarters it had played. Friday's game was a different story, however, as the Gators managed just four points until there were 10 seconds remaining and Northwestern used a 13-2 run that fueled a 73-68 decision against visiting Florida at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
 
The Wildcats outscored the Gators 17-8 in the deciding final quarter after Florida entered the stanza with a 60-56 edge.
 
Florida hit just 4-of-22 overall from the floor (18.2 percent) during the period after converting steadily prior to those last 10 minutes.
 
The Gator's first loss of the season offset senior Ronni Williams' 19-point, 13-rebound performance, her second double-double of the season.
 
Sophomore Eleanna Christinaki added 15 points and a team-high five assists, while junior Haley Lorenzen added 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out after 22 minutes of action.
 
It was Lorenzen who knocked down both of UF's field goals in the first 9:50 of the first quarter before Williams ended an offensive drought with 10 seconds left.
 
The game caps Florida's six-day road adventure, as the Gators will continue their season-opening 12-game road trip on Wednesday, when the team plays Wofford at Patriot Gym in Ocala, Fla.
 
 
Quoting UF Head Coach Amanda Butler:

• "We got ourselves in foul trouble and that was really tough to overcome. Haley (Lorenzen) was playing a really good game – 6-of-9 from the floor is great, but only having her on the floor for 22 minutes I think hurt us. We weren't very productive. We got a ton of offensive rebounds but we weren't very productive with them."

 

• "Defensively, I thought we could have done a much better job, but you have to give Northwestern a tremendous amount of credit. They did a great job. That's a very good ball club. You have to play really well to beat a good team on its home court."

 

• "We know what our challenges are on the road and we've got to do a good job of managing the team's off days and making sure that we're resting but still finding ways to improve. That's what we probably need a little of right now – recovery and get ready to battle again."

 
 
Updated Team Records:

• Florida: 4-1
• Northwestern: 4-1

 
National Rankings:

• Florida: No. 16 – Associated Press; No. 20 USA Today/WBCA
• Northwestern: not ranked

 
 
Worth Noting

• There were 14 lead changes and the game was tied five times.
• Gators missed first six shots from the floor as the Wildcats raced out to a 7-0- lead in the first 2:03 of the game.
• Both teams held a seven-point lead during the game, Florida's coming with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter.
• Florida committed 24 fouls; Northwestern 12
• The Gators converted 7-of-10 free throws; the Wildcats 16-of-26

 
 
First Half Numbers of Note

• Florida converted five three-pointers in the first half – more than in any complete game this season; had hit four in two games.
• The Gators had 10 players available for Friday's game and all 10 played.
• Florida was tied at halftime for the first time this season.
• There were eight lead changes and three tied scores in the first half.
• Northwestern's Nia Coffey, who began her career at Alabama, scored 20 points with seven rebounds in the first half.

 
 
Individual Numbers of Note

• Ronni Williams started the 60th game of her career
• Williams topped the 950th career point mark with her bucket at the 4:44 mark of the first half.
• Williams reached double-figure scoring for the fourth time this year; 55th time in career
• Freshman Sydney Searcy scored a career-best nine points and hit her first two threes.
• Freshman Sydney Morang entered the game at the 5:07 mark of the first quarter and played her first collegiate minutes, logging a total of three minutes.
• Tyshara Fleming swatted the 50th shot of her career during the first half
• Brooke Copeland surpassed the 200-point plateau for her career on a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
• Haley Lorenzen
• Lorenzen knocked down her third three-pointer in as many games; she had never even attempted one prior to this season.

 
 
Gator Bytes with the Wildcats

• Friday was the first time Florida and Northwestern met on the hardwood.
• The Gators are now 10-21 all-time against the current alignment of the Big Ten Conference, including a 2-8 mark under Head Coach Amanda Butler
• NU's leading scorer and rebounder Nia Coffey had missed the last two games with an upper body injury but returned against the Gators to post a game-high 26 points and 14 rebounds.
• Seven of the Wildcats first eight games are at home in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The lone road game was at nearby DePaul, which they dropped, 89-66, in their most recent outing on Nov. 19.
• The Gators are now 3-5 all-time when playing games inside the state of Illinois. The last time the team played within the borders of the Land of Lincoln was on Nov. 18, 2010, when UF dropped a thrilling 74-73 decision at DePaul in the preseason WNIT 'elite eight.'

 
 
Gator Pronunciations for this release:

• ELEANNA CHRISTINAKI: L-ee-on-uh chris-tin-OCK-ee
• TYSHARA Fleming: tie-SHEER-uh
• Sydney MORANG: mur-RANG (like meringue pie)
• Sydney SEARCY: SIR-see

 
 
What's Next for the Gators

• Who: #16/20 Florida vs. Wofford College
• When: Wed., Nov. 30 * 7 p.m. ET
• Where: Patriot Gym on the campus of the College of Central Florida * Ocala, Fla.

Game Coverage & More!

• Radio: LIVE on ESPN Gainesville 95.3 with Adam Schick & Brittany Davis
• Internet Audio: LIVE thru FloridaGators.com (FREE)
• Television: none
• Streaming Video: SEC Network +
• Internet Scoring: LIVE link through FloridaGators.com

 
 
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