BATON ROUGE, La. – Basketball teams which start slow and shoot poorly all night might as well head to the airport as No. 9 Florida did Sunday following a 66-47 setback to Louisiana State before 5,758 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Florida shot a season-low 32 percent from the floor (17 of 53, including 1 for 12 from 3-point line) and made just 12 of 22 free throws (54.5 percent), Plus, the Gators (22-4, 8-3 SEC) fell behind 16-2 at the start in the first 11 minutes, missing 11 of 12 shots, and never recovered.
Hello, tower?
“When you come into a place like this against a defense that is one of the best in the country, you have to play the best game you’ve played all year,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “Not just give it a good effort, but the best game, especially when you’ve had a little success and you have a target on your back. Our post players really let us down in the first half. We didn’t play with any toughness at all. The guards were right in there with them. Overall, this was not a tough performance in any regard.”
After knocking off No. 12 Tennessee, 66-57, last Sunday at the O’Connell Center and moving up to No. 9 in the Associated Press media poll, the Gators have lost two in a row for the first time this season. Florida lost 84-68 at Vanderbilt on Thursday in similar fashion with another slow start.
LSU (13-9, 6-4 SEC) converted 48.1 percent of its shots (26 of 54) and missed on only three of 15 free throws. The Tigers’ defense, ranked seventh in the country, held the Gators to their lowest point level since a 63-38 setback to Georgia on Feb. 24, 2005. Plus, the Tigers forced 20 Florida turnovers.
“Offensively, we have shown that we can be one of the best teams in the country, but we weren’t tonight. Tonight, defense won out and give LSU the credit for that,” Butler added. “The toughest thing we do in the SEC is go onto someone else’s court and get a win. Our past two ballgames, we haven’t stepped up to that challenge.”
Marshae Dotson recorded her third double-double of the season and the 19th of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Leading scorer Sha Brooks added 12 points to complete Florida’s double figure scoring.
Allison Hightower led LSU with a game-high 21 points and LaSondra Barrett had 12.
The Gators, who trailed at halftime 27-16 while making just six field goals. Florida manaed to get within eight points, 35-27, with 15:56 remaining after Sharielle Smith hit Florida’s only 3-pointer and Brooks added a basket. LSU eventually built the lead back to 14, 45-31, with 10:23 remaining and maintained control.
Florida returns to the O’Connell Center to play its final two home games – Thursday against Arkansas at 7 p.m. and Sunday against South Carolina at 1.