Gator Country

Sha Brooks was named the tournament MVP after scoring 25 points to lead Florida to the Junkanoo Jam championship./Gator Country photo by Tim Casey

FREEPORT, Grand Bahamas – Senior Sha Brooks scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Florida women’s basketball team to a 65-60 upset victory of No. 21 Arizona State Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam.

Brooks, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, was 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the 3-point line, and was 7-of-7 shooting from the free-throw line.

The victory by Amanda Butler’s Gators was their sixth straight of the season following an opening loss at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. It also was the Gators’ second victory over a ranked team in the last week. Last Sunday, Florida went to Tallahassee and upset No. 22 Florida State, 72-57.

Junior Steffi Sorensen also was named to the all-tournament team, contributing five points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals and countless defensive deflections one night after scoring a career-high 14 points that helped Florida reach the title game.

Florida led 61-46 with 5:11 remaining in the game before Arizona State (3-2) mounted a furious rally using a 14-2 run which cut the Gator lead to three points, 63-60, with 49.2 seconds left. With 23 seconds to go and the shot clock down to four seconds, Florida inbounded the ball and it was kicked by an Arizona State player, resetting the shot clock to 15 seconds.

The Sun Devils fouled Marshae Dotson to the line, where she missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Brooks, however, got the rebound and was fouled. The 5-foot-8 senior calmly nailed both free throws to seal the victory.

“I knew Sha was ready to play,” Butler said. “She did not play her best (Friday) against Southern Illinois and she knew that. She’s just one of those players who seems to rise up on big occasions. The bigger the game, the bigger the opponent, Sha is going to
raise her game.”

Dotson finished the game with nine points and a team-best seven rebounds, while Jennifer Mossor and Azania Stewart each tallied eight points. Mossor tied a career-high with five assists, while Stewart collected five rebounds, while hitting all four of her field-goal attempts.

Briann January led Arizona State with 16 points, while dishing nine assists and collecting six steals.

Florida visits Alabama-Birmingham Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

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