OXFORD, Miss. – Senior Steffi Sorensen scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and led Florida women’s basketball team to a 67-64 victory over Mississippi Sunday afternoon at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Sorensen connected on six of seven shots beyond the arch as part of the Gators’ aerial attack as Florida hit 11-of-21 with four different players converting from deep.
Senior Sharielle Smith added 11 points and five rebounds, while senior Lonnika Thompson added 11 points and five assists with three steals and sophomore Azania Stewart scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots. All totaled, eight different Gators scored and helped Florida improve to 12-9 overall, 5-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
“It wasn’t pretty and we turned the ball over in a lot of crucial situations, but we finally shot the ball like we know we’re capable of and that felt really good,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “Ole Miss has a fantastic team and this is one of the toughest places to play in our league. I’m really proud of our toughness and how we gutted out another close win. We didn’t hang our heads when things didn’t go our way. We pushed back and showed a lot of resiliency.”
The final 15 minutes of the game were a battle. At one point, Florida held a 17-point lead in the first half but Mississippi closed to within one point, 41-40, with just under 15 minutes left in the second half.
Florida moved the lead back to six but Mississippi came back to take a 2-point lead on three occasions, the last time with 5:55 to play when Bianca Thomas hit a 3-pointer for a 61-59 lead. Both teams went about three minutes without scoring before Sorensen hit her sixth 3-pointer of the game and Smith followed with her third 3-pointer to give Florida a 65-61 lead with 1:15 left.
Thomas hit her fifth trey of the game to bring Ole Miss back within one, 65-64, with 57.8 seconds remaining. With 14 seconds left, Stewart hit both ends of a one-and-one for the game’s final points.
In addition to18 points, Sorensen added a team-high six rebounds with five assists in 36 minutes of action.
“Steffi played exactly the way you want a senior guard to play,” Butler praised. “We’ve all know that she’s capable of hitting six or seven 3-pointers. She worked her tail off this week in practice and got up extra shots and she deserves this.”
Florida shot 48 percent (24 of 50) and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, while edging out the Lady Rebels on the boards, 31-30. The Gators did commit 21 turnovers, 16 in the second half, as Mississippi was able to score 21 points off those miscues.
The Gators begin a three-game homestand Thursday against Vanderbilt in the O’Connell Center beginning at 7 p.m.
FLORIDA 67, MISSISSIPPI 64
At Tad Smith Coliseum, Oxford, Miss.
FLORIDA (67) – Sharielle Smith 3-5 2-2 11, Azania Stewart 4-6 2-2 10, Lonnika Thompson 5-11 0-0 11, Steffi Sorensen 6-9 0-0 18, Jordan Jones 1-2 3, Tessah Holt 0-1 0-0 0, Ndidi Madu 2-5 2-2 6, Trumae Lucas 0-3 0-0 0, Jennifer Mossor 3-6 0-0 6, Jennifer George 0-2 202 2. Totals: 24-50 8-8 67.
Field-goal shooting: 24 of 50 for 48 percent. 3-point shooting: 11 of 21 for 57.1 percent (Sorensen 6-7, Smith 3-5, Jones 1-2, Thompson 1-5, Lucas 0-1, Mossor 0-1). Free-throw shooting: 8 for 8 for 100 percent. Points in the paint: 16. Points off turnovers: 18. Second-chance points: 16. Fast-break points: 4. Bench points: 14. Rebounds: 31 (Sorensen 6, Smith 5, Stewart 5). Assists: 19 (Thompson 5, Sorensen 5, Mossor 5). Blocked shots: 4 (Stewart 3). Steals: 6 (Thompson 3). Turnovers: 21 (Thompson 6, Mossor 3). Total fouls (fouled out): 17 (none).
MISSISSIPPI (64) – Elizabeth Robertson 4-6 0-0 12, Nikki Byrd 1-6 0-0 2, Shantell Black 2-7 1-2 5, Kayla Melson 8-15 4-4 20, Bianca Thomas 6-20 4-6 21, LaKendra Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Katorra Lewis 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 23-57 9-12 64.
Field-goal shooting: 23 of 57 for 40.4 percent. 3-point shooting: 9 of 21 for 42.9 percent (Thomas 5-12, Robertson 4-6, Black 0-3). Free-throw shooting: 9 of 12 for 75 percent. Points in the paint: 24. Points off turnovers: 21. Second-chance points: 6. Fast-break points: 8. Bench points: 4. Rebounds: 30 (Thomas 8, Melson 5, Byrd 4). Assists: 13 (Black 6, Melson 4). Blocked shots: 2 (Byrd 2). Steals: 9 (Byrd 4). Turnovers: 16 (Melson 7, Thomas 5). Total fouls (fouled out): 11 (none).
Halftime: Florida 37, Mississippi 27. Officials: Bryan Enterline, Ed Sidlasky, Gina Cross. Attendance: 2,198. Records: Florida 12-9, 5-3 SEC; Mississippi 14-7, 5-3 SEC.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
For the latest standings, click below:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/conferences/standings?year=2010&confId=23
Sunday, Jan. 31
Florida 67, Mississippi 64
No. 5 Tennessee 60, South Carolina 55
No. 19 Louisiana State 78, Alabama 41
No. 24 Vanderbilt 67, Arkansas 61
No. 23 Kentucky 69, Mississippi State 59
Auburn 67, No. 9 Georgia 53
Thursday, Feb. 4
Vanderbilt at Florida, 7 p.m.
Arkansas at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Louisiana State at Georgia, 7 p.m. (CSS)
Mississippi at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (BBSN)
South Carolina at Auburn, 7 p.m.
Alabama at Mississippi State, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday, Feb. 7
Mississippi State at Florida, 1 p.m.
South Carolina at Georgia, 2 p.m. (CSS)
Mississippi at Louisiana State, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Auburn at Alabama, 3 p.m. (FSN)
Kentucky at Arkansas, 3 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 8
Tennessee at Vanderbilt, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Thursday, Feb. 11
Louisiana State at Florida, 7 p.m.
Arkansas at Auburn, 7 p.m.
Georgia at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Mississippi State at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Tennessee at Mississippi, 8 p.m. (CSS)
Sunday, Feb. 14
Florida at Tennessee, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Georgia, 2 p.m. (CSS)
Arkansas at South Carolina, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Louisiana State at Auburn, 4 p.m. (FSN)
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thursday, Feb. 18
Florida at Kentucky, 7 p.m.
Mississippi at Arkansas, 8 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Louisiana State, 8 p.m. (FSN)
Tennessee at Alabama, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Sunday, Feb. 21
Georgia at Florida, 1 p.m.
South Carolina at Kentucky, 2 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Arkansas, 3 p.m.
Auburn at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 22
Louisiana State at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Florida at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (CSS)
Thursday, Feb. 25
Georgia at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Kentucky at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Mississippi State at Alabama, 7 p.m.
Auburn at Mississippi, 8 p.m.
Arkansas at Louisiana State, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Sunday, Feb. 28
Alabama at Florida, 3 p.m. (CSS)
South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 1 p.m. (FSN)
Arkansas at Georgia, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Kentucky at Auburn, 3 p.m.
Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 3 p.m.
Mississippi at Tennessee, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
SEC WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.
Thursday, March 4
Game 1: Seed No. 9 vs. Seed No. 8, 12 p.m. (FSS)
Game 2: Seed No. 10 vs. Seed No. 7, 2:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 3: Seed No. 12 vs. Seed No. 5, 6:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 4: Seed No. 11 vs. Seed No. 6, 9 p.m. (FSS)
Friday, March 5
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Seed No. 1, 12 p.m. (FSS)
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Seed No. 2, 2:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Seed No. 4, 6:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Seed No. 3, 9 p.m. (FSS)
Saturday, March 6
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday, March 7
Game 11: Championship, Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)