Gator Country

Freshman forward Jennifer George makes a move to the basket during the Gators' 85-63 win against Stetson at the O'Connell Center on Saturday./Gator Country photo by Casey Brooke Lawson

Newcomers Jennifer George and Jordan Jones combined for 38 points to help the Florida Gators women’s basketball team open its season Saturday with an 85-63 victory over visiting Stetson at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

George, a freshman from Orlando, scored 21 points and Jones, a sophomore from Suwanee, Ga., added 17 as Florida shot 50 percent (33 of 66) from the field, making seven 3-pointers and outrebounding the Hatters 35-30. Florida also had 14 steals, including six by senior Steffi Sorensen. It was Florida’s 17th straight non-conference victory at home.

It’s a great way for us to start the season, getting everyone on the floor and getting a chance to try out a lot of different combinations,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “I was really, really pleased with our defense. I thought our defensive effort and execution were very well performed. There were obviously some outstanding individual performances, but overall, I thought we had great balance, primarily because of the defense we played.”

George scored her 21 points with the help of 7-of-9 shooting. She added five offensive rebounds in 16 minutes of play. Jones, a transfer from South Carolina, hit three 3-pointers while tallying 17 points and also added five assists and two steals.

“Those two (George and Jones) are a big part of the answer to our scoring,” Butler said. “They have established themselves as scorers and we’ve been seeing that in practice a lot. I think the encouraging thing is that we scored 85 points and (former Gators) Sha (Brooks) and Marshae (Dotson) didn’t play tonight. We’ve found offensive answers and I think we are going to have a lot of different people step up in different ways this season.”

Senior forward Sharielle Smith of Bradenton finished just shy of her third career double-double, tallying nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. Seven Florida players scored six or more points in the contest. Senior guard Steffi Sorensen of Jacksonville, starting her 32nd straight game, scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in addition to her career-high six steals.

The Gators led 44-25 at halftime after shooting 47.4 percent (18-of-38) from the floor and out-rebounding Stetson 22-15. Florida connected on six 3-pointers in the opening period, knocking down 6-of-13 first-half opportunities beyond the arc.

After a Jones layup began the second half, Stetson ran off four consecutive points to get within 17, 46-29, with 18:19 to go in the game. The Gators widened their advantage to 21 points, 50-29, after four straight points by George. That was the beginning of a 7-3 run that put the Gators up 53-32 on a jumper by Ndidi Madu with 15:39 left.

Florida went up 61-38 thanks to three baskets in a row by Trumae Lucas. With Florida ahead by 24, 79-55, with 3:03 left in the game, the Hatters began slowly cutting into their deficit to come as close as 18, 79-61, with 1:44 remaining.

Stetson was led by Ashley Dennis’ team-high 14 points.

Florida returns to action Tuesday night at 7 by hosting No. 15/12 Florida State.

FLORIDA 85, STETSON 63
At Stephen J. O’Connell Center, Gainesville

STETSON (63): Jessica Conner 4-7 0-0 8, Ashli Jackson 1-6 0-0 2, Daphnee Frieson 2-3 4-7 8, Kerri Simpson 5-8 1-4 12, Lyllique Roman 1-5 1-1 3, Tierra Brown 0-1 2-2 2, Simone Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Dennis 5-9 3-4 14, Dashauna Truss 4-5 0-0 9, Janelle Mills 0-0 5-6 5. TOTALS 22-45 16-24 63.

FLORIDA (85): Sharielle Smith 4-8 0-0 9, Azania Stewart 1-3 0-0 2, Steffi Sorensen 3-7 0-0 8, Trumae Lucas 4-9 0-0 8, Jordan Jones 6-11 2-2 17, Christal Caldwell 2-3 0-0 4, Lonnika Thompson 2-5 2-2 6, Tessah Holt 1-2 0-0 2, Ndidi Madu 1-4 0-2 2, Susan Yenser 2-3 1-2 6, Lily Svete 0-2 0-0 0, Jennifer George 7-9 7-11 21. TOTALS 33-66 12-19 85.

Halftime: Florida 44, Stetson 25. Field-goal shooting: Stetson 22 of 45 for 48.9 percent, Florida 33 of 66 for 50 percent. 3-point shooting: Stetson 3 of 14 for 21.4 percent (Simpson, Dennis, Truss), Florida 7 of 18 for 38.9 percent (Jones 3, Sorensen 2, Yenser, Smith). Rebounds: Florida 35 (Smith 9, Sorensen 6, George 5), Stetson 30 (Conner 9, Frieson 7). Assists: Florida 12 (Jones 5), Stetson 7. Steals: Florida 14 (Sorensen 6), Stetson 6 (Conner 4). Blocked shots: Stetson 3 (Frieson 3), Florida 1. Total fouls (fouled out): Florida 19 (Stewart), Stetson 17 (Mills). Records: Florida 1-0, Stetson 0-1. Attendance: 1,327. Next up: Florida vs. Florida State Tuesday at O’Connell Center, 7 p.m.

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