Junior forward Sharielle Smith scored a game-high 15 points to lead four Gators in double figures as the Florida women’s basketball team followed up its Sunday night upset of Florida State with a 75-55 victory over Savannah State Monday in the O’Connell Center.
The Gators, who have now followed their season-opening loss at Florida Gulf Coast University with four straight victories, including three straight at home by 20 or more points, shot 47 percent (27-of-58) from the floor for the game.
“A 20-point win at home is a great thing,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “I think that it is a great testament to where our program is right now that we can win a game by 20 points and still know we could have played better.”
Smith came just shy of registering her second career double-double with nine rebounds to go along with her 15 points in 21 minutes, hitting 5-of-7 from the field. Senior guard Sha Brooks, named earlier in the day the SEC player of the week, added 13 points, including a season-high three 3-pointers, in just 16 minutes.
Redshirt freshman forward Ndidi Madu had a career night, finishing with a personal-best 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds in 18 minutes. Senior forward Marshae Dotson added 10 points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of work.
Florida, playing for the second consecutive night and the fourth time in eight days, forced a season-high 29 turnovers and benefited from Savannah State’s miscues, scoring 31 points off of those turnovers. The Gators, who entered the game with just 24 steals on the season, posted a season-high 19 steals in the game, including three each by Anieka Henry, Steffi Sorensen and Lonnika Thompson.
The Florida bench was an important factor in the victory, as the Gators’ reserves scored 31 of the team’s 75 points and outscored the opponent bench, 31-17. Included in Florida’s bench scoring were the first collegiate points by freshman guard Tailor Jones and a career-high three blocks by freshman center Azania Stewart.
“I’ve said many times that I think one of the strengths of this year’s team is our depth and our versatility,” Butler said. “We have a lot of confidence in our bench. It’s one of the things that can make us a very hard team to guard because of the different combinations that we can put on the floor both offensively and defensively.”
Florida returns to action Friday when it plays Southern Illinois on the first day of the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas. Tip-off is 1 p.m.
CROSS COUNTRY: On a windy and rainy afternoon, the Florida women’s cross country team placed 17th out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Meanwhile, senior Jeremy Criscione of Interlachen, running in his final cross country race, finished 20th overall, earning his first-ever All-American honor.
Criscione put in a career-best time of 29:55.9 to place 20th overall. It marked the first time in his career he finished a 10K in under 30 minutes. He is the first cross country All-American since Mike Bilyeu and Mike Blaney earned the honor in 1986. Criscione’s time also ranks third all-time in Florida record books for best NCAA Championship time and ninth all-time for fastest 10K overall time. The overall winner was Oregon’s Galen Rupp, who finished in 29:03.9.
“Jeremy ran a great race today,” coach Todd Morgan said. “He is such a phenomenal person to have in our program. It meant a lot to me and to (head coach) Mike Holloway to see him finish his cross country career so strongly. He was an asset to the Florida cross country program.”
The No. 16 Lady Gators tallied 454 points in their third consecutive bid at the championship. Freshman Genevieve LaCaze of Queensland, Australia, led the way with a 75th-place finish in a time of 21:00.3. She was followed by sophomore Charlotte Browning of West Sussex, England, finishing 82nd in 21:03.4. The third Gator to cross the finish line was senior Jacy Kruzel of Cooper City in 122nd place in 21:21.1. Sophomore Ali Crabb of St. Petersburg placed 147th in 21:34.2.The final Florida runner to score was sophomore Kaitlin Shiver of Satellite Beach, who set a new personal best time of 21:37.3 and placed 154th.
“The women ran hard today,” Morgan said. “We accomplished a lot this season; we finished in the Top 20 today and we were the runners-up at the SEC Championship and the South Region Championship.”
Senior Sara Petrick of Apollo Beach placed 183rd in 21:49.9 and junior Julie Northrup finished 228th in 22:30.2 to round out the Florida participants.
The women’s team title went to Washington, with Oregon second and Florida State third.
VOLLEYBALL: Senior Florida middle blocker Kelsey Bowers of Gainesville has been named a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine second-team Academic All-America selection for her successes on the court and in the classroom.
Bowers becomes the seventh player in school history to be named an Academic All-America selection, as six previous players in school history have combined for nine awards. Bowers becomes the second Gator in two years to earn the honor, as Amber McCray was named a second-team Academic All-American last season.
“This honor is a testament to the student-athlete that Kelsey Bowers is,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “She excels for us both on and off the court and I am proud of the way she has represented the University of Florida and our volleyball program both in the classroom and on the court.”
Earlier this season, Bowers earned the third Academic All-District recognition of her career and the second first-team Academic All-District honor. She currently holds a 3.92 grade-point average in public relations with a minor in Italian.
Bowers, who has played in 116 career matches, is one of only seven players in school history to have eclipsed the 400-block plateau for her career and just the 17th to have recorded 300 or more career blocks. She currently ranks seventh on the school’s all-time career total blocks list with 413. On the season, Bowers ranks first on the team in blocks per set with 0.96, including ranking fifth in the Southeastern Conference in league matches only with a 1.02 blocks per set average. Bowers has either led or tied for the team lead in blocks per set on 12 occasions this season.
Bowers and the Gators return to action Wednesday when they travel to Columbia, S.C., to face South Carolina. Florida will be looking to clinch at least a share of its 18th consecutive SEC Championship with a win against the Gamecocks.