Gator Country

Florida women's basketball coach Amanda Butler was not very happy following her team's 81-58 loss at Pittsburgh./Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Florida women’s basketball team endured another long night shooting Friday and No. 25 Pittsburgh ran away with an 81-58 victory at the Petersen Events Center.

The Gators (1-2) missed their first 12 shots from beyond the 3-point line and finished 7 of 25 (28 percent) and 21 of 59 (35.6 percent) overall. Meanwhile, the Panthers hit 7 of 15 shots from 3-point land and finished at 46.9 percent (30 of 64).

Pittsburgh (2-0) ran out to a 43-20 halftime lead, thanks in part to seven 3-pointers in the first half, and never was threatened. Taneisha Harrison accounted for 20 of her career-high 25 points in the first half for Pitt, which scored 11 points off of eight turnovers in the opening frame. The undersized Gators did hold their own on the boards in the first 20 minutes, trailing just 21-20. 

For the first nine and half minutes, the Gators battled hard, answering every Panther run with one of their own. With Pitt holding a 14-10 lead, Jennifer George sank a pair of free throws and Susan Yenser canned an eight-footer from the side to tied the score at 14-all with 10:34 remaining in the first half. But Pittsburgh went on a 29-6 run to end the half.

“We had a lot of problems tonight and one was our effort. It was disappointing from the beginning,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “Our shots didn’t fall and we didn’t prepare well enough on all fronts and Pitt just kicked our butt. 

“The missed shots were certainly a problem, but when Pitt can score 43 points in the first 20 minutes of play, it’s a bigger problem because we’ve experience a game already when our shots haven’t fallen and we were able to count on our defense. Tonight we couldn’t do that at all.”

Jones, who tallied a four-point play with 8:40 remaining in the game, scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, while adding five assists and two steals in 31 minutes of action. Yenser added 11 points and Sharielle Smith tallied 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting for the Gators, who were outscored 38-14 in the paint. 

“I felt like we had two good days of preparation, but clearly I was wrong and we will correct that,” Butler said. “I don’t think that we were ready to come in here and compete on someone else’s home floor. Our first road game and we didn’t have the right mentality or the right approach.”

Harrison’s 25 points led five Panthers in double figures with Jania Sims adding 16 and Chelsea Cole scoring 10 points with 11 rebounds. 

The Gators play host to UAB Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. with the men’s team following with its battle against Florida State at 7 p.m.

No. 25 PITTSBURGH 81, FLORIDA 58
At Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.

FLORIDA (58): Sharielle Smith 3-3 3-4 10, Azania Stewart 1-1 0-0 2, Steffi Sorensen 0-7 0-0 0, Trumae Lucas 4-7 0-1 8, Jordan Jones 5-14 1-1 14, Christal Caldwell 0-2 1-2 1, Lonnika Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Tessah Holt 0-0 0-0 0, Ndidi Madu 3-10 1-6 7, Susan Yenser 4-6 0-0 11, Lily Svete 1-5 0-0 2, Jennifer George 0-3 3-4 3. TOTALS 21-59 9-17 58.

PITTSBURGH (81): Chelsea Cole 4-8 2-2 10, Selena Nwude 0-4 0-1 0, Taneisha Harrison 9-12 3-5 25, Jania Sims 6-11 3-4 16, Shayla Scott 3-8 4-4 11, Sophronia Sallard 0-1 0-1 0, Brittaney Thomas 2-9 0-0 5, Sarah Ogoke 0-0 0-0 0, Pepper Wilson 1-1 2-6 4, Katie Popovec 5-10 0-2 10. TOTALS 30-64 14-25 81.

Halftime: Pittsburgh 43, Florida 20. Shooting: Florida 21 of 59 for 35.6 percent; Pittsburgh 30 of 64 for 46.9 percent. 3-point shooting: Florida 9-17; Pittsburgh 14-25 (Scott 4-4, Sims 3-4, Harrison 3-5, Cole 2-2, Wilson 2-6, Nwude 0-1, Sallard 0-1, Popovec 0-2; Florida 7-25 (Yenser 3-5, Jones 3-9, Smith 1-1, Lucas 0-1, Svete 0-2, Sorensen 0-7. Rebounds: Florida 38 (Madu 5, Yenser 4); Pittsbutgh 43 (Cole 11, Popovec 7). Assists: Florida 12 (Jones 5); Pittsburgh 14 (Harrison 4). Blocked shots: Florida 2 (Svete 2); Pittsburgh 4 (Scott 2). Steals: Florida 6 (Jones 2, George 2); Pittsburgh 12 (Cole 3). Turnovers: Florida 16; Pittsburgh 12. Total fouls (fouled out): Florida 21 (none); Pittsburgh 16 (none). Records: Florida 1-2, Pittsburgh 2-0. Officials: Mark Zentz, Ed Sidlasky, Laura Morris. Attendance: 2,848.

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