Florida Gators Women’s Basketball defeats Charleston Southern

Special to GC
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After Florida trailed by five points with 8:34 left in the first half, the Gator women’s basketball team (3-1) closed the first stanza on a 31-4 run that helped the Orange and Blue to a 92-64 victory over Charleston Southern (2-2) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Tuesday evening.

Redshirt junior Cassie Peoples propelled the Gators to victory, pouring in a season-high 17 points (5-for-11 FG, 2-for-4 3 FG, 5-for-5 FT) and matching a season-high with seven assists. In her first collegiate start, freshman Haley Lorenzen matched Peoples’ production and contributed a career-high 17 points (7-for-11 FG, 3-for-4 FT). Freshman Brooke Copeland and junior January Miller added 15 and 11 points, respectively.

In addition, it was a career night for redshirt junior Carlie Needles, as the redshirt junior collected personal-bests of 14 rebounds and seven steals and a season-high five assists.

With the Gators trailing by three with 8:09 left in the first half, Miller canned a three-pointer that knotted the game at 17. She followed the bucket with a fast-break layup, facilitated by a Needles’ steal, to break the tie and put Florida ahead of Charleston Southern to stay.

The home team entered the locker room with a 43-21 advantage. UF expanded its advantage throughout the second frame, peaking at 30 points with under a minute remaining.

Florida cancelled out its sluggish start with a stellar performance from the charity stripe to remain in the game. The Gators were a perfect 16-for-16 from the line in the first half and finished the night 30-for-33 in free throws.

Postgame Press Conference Video (FREE): Head coach Amanda Butler, Haley Lorenzen and Cassie Peoples from GatorVision: http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3561404&db_oem_id=6500

Records:

* Florida: 3-1

* Charleston Southern: 2-2

Turning Point:

* After Charleston Southern grabbed a 5-point lead (17-12) at the 8:34 mark of the first half, the Gators went on a 31-4 run for the remainder of the half, capped off by a layup from Kayla Lewis with 21 seconds left in the half. UF never trailed for the remainder of the game.

Stat Line of the Game:

* Carlie Needles recorded 14 rebounds, 7 points, 7 steals and 5 assists

Series Update:

* With tonight’s win, Florida improved to 2-0 against Charleston Southern

* The Gators had previously defeated the Bucs in the 2011 Gator Holiday Classic

Numbers of Note:

* Florida outscored Charleston Southern, 30-9, at the charity stripe

* UF was a perfect 16-of-16 from the free-throw line in the first half

* UF held a 48-27 advantage on the boards and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds tonight

* UF opened the game shooting 14% from the field (3-of-21), but shot 58.1% (25-of-43) the remainder of the game

* The Gators went into the locker room with a 22-point lead, 43-21. UF is 3-0 this season when ahead at halftime

* Florida is now 10-1 under Amanda Butler when scoring in the 90’s

* UF improved to 87-30 and 3-0 this season when wearing its all-white uniforms under Amanda Butler

Double-Figures:

* Haley Lorenzen (17), Cassie Peoples (17), Brooke Copeland (15), January Miller (11) and Kayla Lewis (10) all scored in double-figures for the Gators

Streaks:

* Florida has won 25 of its last 26 home games versus non-conference foes, including eight straight

* Cassie Peoples connected on a three-pointer at the 12:10 mark of the first half, extending the Gators’ consecutive games with a trey streak to 135

Individuals:

* Kayla Lewis made her 64th career start and 37th consecutive as a Gator

* Carlie Needles recorded her 37th career start

* Needles notched a career-high 14 rebounds

* Needles captured a career-high 7 steals

* Needles totaled a season-high 5 assists

* Antoinette Bannister made her fourth career start at UF

* Bannister grabbed a career-high tying 5 rebounds

* Dyandria Anderson made her first career start

* Brooke Copeland scored in double figures for the first time in her career

* Haley Lorenzen recorded her first career start

* Lorenzen scored in double figures and tied for UF’s lead in points for the first time in her career

* January Miller scored her 550th career point in the first half of tonight’s game, as she canned a season-high 11 points

Quotes from the Court:
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler

Opening statement:
“Charleston Southern really came ready to play today, and that’s what we want. We want to be challenged in these early games and continue to find out the things we need to work on. I thought we played a really great second half of the first half, and that’s when we were able to separate ourselves in a meaningful way. There were a lot of positives, but a lot of stuff we still have to work. We have things we have to quickly turnaround and work on because we have a great BIG EAST opponent on Friday. We had some really nice individual performances that are indications of growth, and that is what we are looking for.”

On the team’s slow start:
“I think that we could have been a little tougher in the paint and could have been a little bit more stingy, in terms of when we were taking shots and expecting contact. We missed a couple of good shots and probably took some bad ones. I am sure the film will show a couple of different things. I am not worried about missed shots – that is going to happen. We need to stop turning the ball over. That is the biggest concern.”

Haley Lorenzen

On scoring a career-high 17 points…
“To be honest, I was honored to have an opportunity, but I could not have done it without my teammates. Cassie Peoples told me if I ran the floor she would find me. It’s not about me making 17 points, it’s about my teammates finding me. I am just trying to make my open looks.”
Cassie Peoples
On coming off the bench for the first time this year:
“I try to play the same way if I am coming off the bench or starting. I have been struggling a little bit early in the season. It is a little different [coming off the bench], but I don’t think there is too much of a difference. My teammates stood behind me and encouraged me through the rough times I was having.”
Charleston Southern head coach Fred Applin
On the loss to Florida:
“We played pretty good, but we had a six-minute spurt where we couldn’t make a basket and made some turnovers, and [Florida] transitioned on that and scored. We knew it was going to be a tough game. I have known [Florida’s] staff for quite a while. I’ll tell you what, if [Florida] plays like that, they will do very well in the SEC this year. Our team is very young, and we had a lot of people step up for us tonight.”

Next Game:

* What: Florida (3-1) at Georgetown (2-4)

* When: Friday, Nov. 28, 2014 at 7 p.m.

* Where: McDonough Arena * Washington, D.C.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.