NORFOLK Va. – Senior Steffi Sorensen and sophomore Ndidi Madu had career-high efforts of 20 and 16 points to lead a balanced Florida attack in an 81-67 victory over Old Dominion Friday night at the Ted Constant Convention Center.
The Gators shot near 48 percent from the floor (29-61), including a 42 percent mark (8-19) from beyond the 3-point line. Sorensen hit 6-of-9 shots from 3-point land and also led the Gators with nine rebounds. The victory by Florida (4-5) ended a two-game losing streak and was helped by the Gators’ 40-35 rebounding edge, 16 assists and 13 steals.
Madu hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor while scoring 16 points and adding four blocks while playing a career-high 33 minutes. Jordan Jones scored 11 points with two assists and Lonnika Thompson had eight points and a career-high eight assists.
“This was a huge win for our team,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “I have such great respect for Coach (Wendy) Larry and what she has done here. I’m really proud of our players for responding to the challenges we put in front of them in practice. We had different people set up tonight. Lonnika Thompson ran our team tonight, which was important because we’ve been looking for her to do that. Ndidi Madu gave us a lot of energy and Steffi Sorensen knocked down some huge shots.”
Old Dominion scored the first four points of the second half and pulled within one, 36-35, before Sorensen got the Gators on the board with a long jumper and started an 8-2 run that lasted three minutes and put Florida back up by seven, 44-37. But an 8-0 Old Dominion run gave the Lady Monarchs a 45-44 lead with 14 minutes remaining.
“We had a lot of confidence in our defense tonight,” Butler said. “When they took the lead, we changed some things on defense when helped us get the momentum back.”
Susan Yenser scored out of Florida’s timeout by nailing a 3-pointer from the right side. ODU came up with a steal and converted a layup to tie the game at 47-all with 11:44 to go. Sorensen hit a pair of treys that put Florida up 53-49.
“When you have shooters like Steffi, it can go from a four-point game to a 7- or 10-point game very quickly,” Butler shared. “What’s most impressive about Steffi is not her scoring, it’s the way she gets her rebounds. You have to appreciate that aspect of her game, which is so overlooked. She went out and got nine rebounds and played with a tremendous amount of heart.”
Still, ODU made another run at Florida and tied the game at 55-all with nine minutes to go. But Sorensen answered with two 3-pointers for a 61-55 lead.
ODU came right back with four free throws and tied the game, before Jones converted a driving layup. Jasmine Parker hit a six-footer in the paint and evened the score at 55-all with just over nine minutes remaining. Sorensen continued her hot streak and nailed back-to-back treys for a 61-55 lead, however, the Monarchs wouldn’t go quietly, as they scored the next two field goals and were within two points with 6:24 to play.
Finally, Florida went on a 13-1 spurt, powered by two baskets by Madu and another Sorensen 3-pointer, and the Gators took a 74-60 lead.
It was a sloppily played game as the two teams combined for 42 turnovers (21 each) and shot 66 free throws (ODU was 24-of-43 from the charity stripe and Florida was 15-of-23).
The Lady Monarchs fell to 1-6 as Tia Lewis’ 16 points and 10 rebounds led ODU, which shot 42 percent in the game.
The Gators take a nine-day break for final exams, before returning to the court and playing host to the Gator Holiday Classic, Dec. 20-21. Florida and Southern University square off in game one beginning at 2 p.m. followed by High Point vs. William & Mary.