GAINESVILLE, Fla. – If only the Gators could redo that second quarter against fifth-ranked South Carolina played Sunday afternoon at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
 
Florida actually outscored the Gamecocks by two except for that decisive 10-minute frame, when South Carolina outscored the Gators 26-5 and earned the 81-62 decision.
 
During that game-changing quarter, the Gators managed to convert only 1-of-14 field goals, while USC hit 8-of-17 overall, including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc and 7-of-11 from the free throw line. The Gamecocks also held a 17-9 rebounding advantage, which the visitors enjoyed by turning their seven offensive boards into 12 points.
 
That 10-minute quarter saw Florida's three primary frontcourt players – Ronni Williams, Haley Lorenzen and Tyshara Fleming – each whistled for their respective third foul, as the Gators entered the halftime locker room dazed and down, 47-24.
 
Florida, however, refused to bow down to the talented and nationally-ranked Gamecocks and outscored them 22-16 in the third quarter, as well as, 38-34 in the second half.
 
The Gators' third-quarter advantage could have been even greater if it hadn't been for a Gamecock three-point buzzer-beater shortly after UF freshman Delicia Washington's layup in the lane that cut difference to 14 points.
 
Updated Team Records

• Florida: 9-7, 0-3 SEC
• South Carolina: 13-1, 3-0 SEC

 
Double-Digit Gators

• Delicia Washington: 18 points with seven rebounds and three steals
• Haley Lorenzen: 15 points (6-9 FG) with five rebounds; topped the 700-point plateau and extended her career-best made-free-throw streak to 12

 
Double-Digit Gamecocks

• A'ja Wilson: 23 points, 13 rebounds
• Allisha Gray: 18 points (4-7 threes)
• Alaina Coates: 14 points, 13 rebounds
• Kaela Davis: 10 points

 
Numbers of Note

• All eight Gators who suited up for the game, scored in the game
• Brooke Copeland finished with seven points that included a three-pointer, her ninth consecutive game with a trey
• Leading scorer Ronni Williams scored six points with five rebounds before fouling out for the second time this season
• Tyshara Fleming fouled out of a game for the first time this year; finished with a team-high eight rebounds and two points
• The Gators shot 36.5 percent (23-63) overall from the floor, just the third time under 40 percent this season and in spite of hitting just seven percent during the second quarter
• There were six lead changes and three tied scores during the game

 
Let's Go to the Video Tape

• Highlights: http://floridagators.com/watch/default.aspx?Archive=5170
• UF Press Conference: http://floridagators.com/watch/default.aspx?Archive=5169
• Final Box: http://floridagators.com/documents/2017/1/8/16_SC81_UF62.pdf

 
Quotes from the Court:
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler
"Obviously we are disappointed that we lost, I think may be people who think that against a great team like South Carolina, they are okay with respectable losses and that's not the way we are wired. That's not what our expectation is. We are very disappointed that we lost but at the same time we got a lot better tonight. I think we made great progress in the right direction and we are excited about our next opportunity. There are a few things that are within our control that we've got to do a better job with, like staying out of foul trouble. We lost the second quarter significantly because we had some lineups out there which were less than ideal and some of our combinations that we don't necessarily like to put together but that's in our control. We've got to do a better job with our early fouls, keep the combinations on the floor that we want and every given moment - offensively and defensively - if we do that, we are a very good team."
 
"I think we were really aggressive, obviously these two guys (Delicia Washington and Haley Lorenzen), I thought really displayed a fearless spirit offensively. We did a really good job of attacking and that's what we wanted to do. We got ourselves to the free throw line enough times I believe to win but we didn't hit them and so that's another element that's in our control. We've got to do better with that but I liked defensively how we looked tonight. I thought we played really confidently in our zone, we continued to mix things up and that I think made it difficult for them to get into a flow. They still made some great individual plays. To me South Carolina is a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament when this is all said and done so they still had great players to make great individual plays but collectively I thought defensively we did a pretty good job disrupting them. We just weren't able to finish the play the way we wanted to."
 
"I don't know what they are ranked nationally in blocks but they blocked a lot of shots, particularly in the first half. I thought we were doing a really good job of driving in there and initiating contact, but that's not the way the officials saw it. They were able to disrupt us going to the rim in the first half, take away some looks that we are accustomed to getting. They are real big and they are really good and they are well coached, so that's enough to try and get you out of your rhythm. Field goal percentage wise, for the most part, I still felt we took the shots that we wanted to take but we are not used to having six of those shots blocked."
 
 
South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
On the key to containing Ronni Williams: "Just to make her work, she is a tireless player who can score in a lot of different ways, she plays multiple positions for them, so our biggest thing was to try and make her work for everything, even the shots that she got, we wanted to make sure we contest them. She put the ball on the floor, we want to make sure we play underneath her, and try to make her work for everything. We realize she is the key to what makes them successful."
 
On the Second Quarter: "I think it was great, we tried to speed the game up a little bit and press to try to create some offense with our defense. I thought we just let the game settle down, sometimes when you come out and play with a target on your back, people want to give you their best effort especially in the beginning of games. We have to be prepared for that, but a marathon is not won in the first mile, you have to run it all the way through."
 
South Carolina center Alaina Coates
"We were able to take control and push the ball in transition, post-wise, they were kind of in a little bit of foul trouble so we took that as an advantage to be a little more aggressive on the offensive end."
 
"We all know we came out pretty much flat with no effort, no energy so we knew we needed to pick it up because we know Florida is a team with the potential to beat us and can possibly beat us so we knew that we definitely had to pick it up because we were not playing USC basketball."
 
 
What's Next for the Gators

• Who: Florida at No. 4 Mississippi State (17-0, 3-0 SEC)
• Where: Humphrey Coliseum * Starkville, Miss.
• When: Thursday, January 12 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT
• TV: SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Deb Antonelli

 
Gator Pronunciations:

• TYSHARA Fleming: tie-SHEER-uh
• DELICIA Washington: duh-LEE-shuh

 
 
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