FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A balanced attack and steely resolve helped the Florida women’s basketball team to its first SEC road opening win since 2005 in a 59-53 victory over Arkansas at the Bud Walton Arena Sunday.
Florida (8-6, 1-0 SEC East) was led by Lonnika Thompson and Azania Stewart, who each scored 12 points. Nine different players scored for the Gators, who shot just 35.3 percent (18 of 51) overall but converted 75 percent from the charity stripe.
“Road wins count double – that’s what I tell our team,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. “If you can go on the road and win in our league, it’s a big, big deal. This is a big win for us and a great way to start the new year and the SEC season.”
Florida led 29-27 at halftime and the teams traded baskets until Arkansas (8-6, 0-1 SEC West) went on an 8-3 run to take a 36-35 lead.
But then Trumae Lucas hit a floater from the lane, Ndidi Madu added a three-point play and Jordan Jones hit a 3-pointer to give Florida a 44-37 lead with 15:00 remaining in regulation. Jones’ 3-pointer gave her a streak of 14 games with one, the seventh longest streak in program history.
But Arkansas responded with an 8-2 run and closed to within a point, 46-45, with just under 10 minutes left. Florida responded by pounding the ball inside to Sharielle Smith and Stewart, who converted free throws to give Florida a four-point lead. The teams traded baskets for the next couple of minutes and the Gators maintained their four-point lead – 53-49 – with 3:56 to go.
Jennifer George hit three free throws to increase the lead to 56-49 with 2:37 left in regulation. But the Razorbacks weren’t finished. Charity Ford hit a basket with 1:36 remaining to cut the lead to five and Dominique Robinson scored on a layup – the only points the Razorbacks’ bench would provide in the game – and the Florida lead was 56-53 with 1:04 remaining.
Then the Gators put the game away at the free-throw line. Senior Steffi Sorensen, who had not converted a free throw since Dec. 7 at Rutgers, hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 53 seconds remaining, and Thompson added a final free throw with 19 seconds left for the final margin.
“There are lot of different things that I’m proud of today, but the thing I was most proud of was our toughness,” Butler said. “That was the story in the second half. We were tough on the boards. We were tough on defense. We were tough on offense. There wasn’t anything we did particularly well, but we did a little bit of everything and it was all fueled by our toughness.”
Arkansas’ Lyndsay Harris led all scorers with 21 points, while C’eira Ricketts added 11 points for the Razorbacks, who hit 32.3 percent (20-62) from the floor, including 11.1 percent (2-18) from beyond the 3-point line.
Florida opened the game with an 8-4 lead but turnovers on four trips down the floor allowed Arkansas to have a 14-2 run that gave the Razorbacks an 18-10 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Thompson ended the Florida drought with a 3-pointer and the Gators started clawing their way back. Jennifer George put back a tough shot underneath and Thompson drained another 3-pointer on the fast break and Florida trailed 21-18 with 6:14 left in the half.
The baskets were part of a 14-4 run that put Florida up 27-25 with 2:27 left in the first half. Smith scored on a layup with 57 seconds remaining to provide Florida its 29-27 halftime lead.
Florida is off until Thursday night when it plays host to Auburn at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by CSS.
FLORIDA 59, ARKANSAS 53
At Fayetteville, Ark., Bud Walton Arena
FLORIDA (59) — Sharielle Smith 3-6 1-2 7, Azania Stewart 3-6 6-6 12, Lonnika Thompson 4-7 1-2 12, Steffi Sorensen 1-7 2-3 4, Jordan Jones 2-7 0-0 5, Tessah Holt 0-0 0-0 0, Ndidi Madu 2-7 1-1 5, Susan Yenser 1-1 0-0 3, Trumae 1-7 4-4 6, Jennifer Mossor 0-1 0-0 0, Jennifer George 1-2 3-6 5. TOTALS 18-51 18-24 59.
Field-goal shooting: 18 of 51 for 35.3 percent. 3-point shooting: 5 of 19 for 26.3 percent (Thompson 3-4, Yenser 1-1, Jones 1-6, Smith 0-1, Lucas 0-2, Sorensen 0-5). Free-throw shooting: 18 of 24 of 75 percent. Rebounds: 40 (George 9, Smith 9). Assists: 12 (Sorensen 3). Blocked shots: 2 (George, Stewart). Steals: 10 (George 3, Sorensen 3). Turnovers: 17 (Smith 4, Thompson 4). Total fouls (fouled out): 14 (none). Records: 8-6 overall, 1-0 SEC East.
ARKANSAS (53) — Sarah Watkins 3-7 0-2 6, Ashley Daniels 2-4 2-2 6, C’Eira Ricketts 5-13 1-2 11, Charity Ford 3-12 1-1 7, Lyndsay Harris 6-14 7-7 21, Jamesha Townsend 0-0 0-0 0, Dominique Robinson 1-7 0-0 2, Ashley McCray 0-3 0-0 0, Brittney Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Quistelle Williams 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-62 11-14 53.
Field-goal shooting: 20 of 62 for 32.3 percent. 3-point shooting: 2 of 18 for 11.1 percent (Harris 2-8, Williams 0-1, Watkins 0-1, Ricketts 0-2, Ford 0-3, Robinson 0-3). Free-throw shooting: 11 of 14 for 78.6 percent. Rebounds: 38 (Watkins 6, Robinson 5). Assists: 13 (Daniels 3, Ford 3). Blocked shots: 4 (Watkins 3). Steals: 8 (Ricketts 2, Harris 2). Turnovers: 14 (Harris 5). Total fouls (fouled out): 16 (none). Records: Arkansas 8-6, 0-1 SEC West).
Halftime score: Florida 29, Arkansas 27. Officials: Tina Napier, Wesley Dean, Gina Cross. A—1,397.