Special report on the Florida Gators women’s basketball team:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Led by Haley Lorenzen’s third double-double of the season, Florida earned its second straight victory after defeating Jacksonville, 69-59, at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Tuesday evening.
Fresh off a big 40-point win on Thanksgiving, the Gators (4-3) wasted no time getting to the basket and opening an early 7-0 lead over the Dolphins (4-3). Jacksonville was able to trim the Gators lead to three, before a triple from Dyandria Anderson extended the lead back to six. The Gators remained in control the rest of the quarter, going into the second with a 14-10 advantage.
In the second quarter, Florida got into a rhythm offensively and slowly began to extend its four-point advantage. After taking a seven-point lead, 21-14, the Gators got it done both offensively and defensively as they went on a 13-7 run over the final eight minutes of the half, taking a 33-21 lead into the locker room.
Florida began to open the game up in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points of the half, and grabbing a 22-point lead, 45-23. Over the next few possessions, the Gators and Dolphins traded scores to make it 50-30 before Jacksonville scored the final five points of the quarter to cut the Gators lead to 15 heading into the fourth.
In the final quarter Florida was able to start strong, regaining its 20-point lead at 57-37 before Jacksonville began to turn up the pressure. With the score at 61-44 the Dolphins began to make a run, scoring 13 of the next 17 points and trimming the Gators lead to eight. The Gators, though, proved to be too strong in the final minutes, earning their fourth win of the young season.
Florida’s win against Savannah State was a record-setting three-point shooting affair, as the Gators hit a program-record 17 treys. During tonight’s game, Florida was 6-of-18 from long range, but scored 36 of its points in the paint and enjoyed a 26-5 advantage in second-chance points thanks in part to a 45-33 rebounding edge.
Coach Cameron Newbauer on the game against Jacksonville State
“Liked the game because we knew Jacksonville is a very tough, gritty, hardnosed team. Coach Yo does a great job getting those kids to play hard. Those young ladies are relentless in everything they do. They gave us a lot if fits tonight. Forced us to have to finish it strong at the end.”
“I think we learned from some of the mistake we made but anytime you go plus 12 on the glass, 18 offensive rebounds, 26 second chance points. I think we did a good job capitalizing on those offensive rebounds that we got.”
Gator Notables
* Three Gators scored in double figures: Lorenzen (20), Anderson (16) and Delicia Washington (12)
* The Gators shot 46 percent from the field and 33 percent (6-18) from behind the arc
* Florida improved to 4-1 all-time against Jacksonville, and 4-0 at home
* Lorenzen reached two milestones in points and rebounds. With her 20 points she passed 925 for her career, currently has 937, and with her 11 rebounds surpasses 525 in her career, currently has 527
* Anderson eclipsed 300 career rebounds with her seven boards against Jacksonville
* The Gators have hit a three-pointer in every game this season
* Lorenzen has scored in 97 straight games
Gator of the Game
* Senior Haley Lorenzen led the way for the Gators on Tuesday with her third double-double of the season and seventh of her career. Lorenzen tied her career-high in scoring with 20-points while grabbing a team-high 11 boards. In 34 minutes of action, Lorenzen was 9-of-15 from the floor and 1-for-2 from behind the arc.
* “Those good looks come from my teammates. I don’t get the ball without them so I am grateful that they had those on-point passes. I think we did a really good job of looking in the paint whether it was to me or Jalaysha Thomas or Paulina Hersler. I think we did a great job of being versatile and getting the ball inside.”
Quotes from the Court
UF Coach Cameron Newbauer:
Opening Remarks about the game:
“I liked the game because we knew Jacksonville is a very tough, gritty, hardnosed team. Coach Yo (Yolett Mcphee-Mccuin) does a great job getting those kids to play hard. Those young ladies are relentless in everything they do. They gave us a lot of fits tonight, forced us to have to finish it strong at the end. We had some mishaps here and there but overall we got the job done and that’s what is most important. I think we learned from some of the mistake we made but anytime you go plus 12 on the glass, 18 offensive rebounds, 26 second-chance points. I think we did a good job capitalizing on those offensive rebounds that we got. Too many turnovers than we’d like but we found a different way to win tonight and we got better and we will take that.”
On the dominance in the paint:
“The first half I thought we did a really good job. We knew they wanted to get into the paint and we wanted to get into the paint. We thought they were going to do some switching defensively and we wanted to exploit that. In the first half they had four points in the paint. We ended up 36 points in the paint for the game. Haley (Lorenzen) did a really good job of being aggressive inside with her touches, 9-of-15.”
On starting strong:
“We talked about that a number of times throughout the week – just our starts and coming out more aggressive and more assertive and we did that starting out 7-0 and they had to use a timeout. We scored 17 points to start the second half then we really hit a drought and until that time I thought we played really well offensively and I thought we moved the ball really well.”
UF senior Haley Lorenzen on her performance:
“Those good looks come from my teammates. I don’t get the ball without them so I am grateful that they had those on point passes. I think we did a really good job of looking in the paint whether it was to me or Jalaysha Thomas or Paulina Hersler. I think we did a great job of being versatile and getting the ball inside.”
“Offensive rebounding is all about effort. I think it’s just going and getting the ball for your team. We send certain people back and if that’s your one job and if that’s all you have to worry about you can put all your effort into that.”
What’s Next for the Gators
* What: The Big 12/SEC Challenge
* Who: Florida (4-3) vs. Oklahoma (3-3)
* Where: Lloyd Noble Center * Norman, OK
* When: Sun., Dec. 3 * 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT
* TV: FoxSports Sun