The bully of the Southeastern Conference came calling at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Sunday afternoon. Two-time defending NCAA champ Tennessee waltzed into town and the Lady Vols looked like any other Tennessee team of the last 30-something years. They were tall, talented, had a bench full of McDonald’s All-Americans and the legend herself, Pat Summit, stalking the sidelines, getting in the face of her players and the officiating crew. They came here expecting to win, expecting the Florida Gators to back down. They expect everybody to back down. That’s why they are the Lady Vols.
Maybe that would have worked a couple of years ago. It might have even worked last year but it didn’t work Sunday. The Lady Vols might have had all the talent in the world and a hall of fame coach going for them, but nobody on the Florida bench was about to back down from this fight.
And that’s what it was. It was a fight from start to finish but the team that had all the height and all the talent and the coach that just won her 1,000th game got outhustled and outfought by a Gator team that isn’t intimidated by anybody, not even the big, bad Lady Vols.
“We aren’t taller than anybody,” said Florida coach Amanda Butler after her 11th-ranked Gators (22-2, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) took down the Lady Vols, 66-57, before a crowd of 8,060 and a national television audience on ESPN. “I don’t feel like we’ve got this huge talent advantage really any night.”
A bench full of McDonald’s All-Americans is a nice thing to have but talent can only carry you so far. Having four starters taller than 6-0 and a bench filled with 6-3, 6-4, 6-6 types can be rather intimidating but size can only do so much for you if you don’t have the will to win.
At some point, it comes down to who wants it more and the Florida Gators wanted it and wanted it badly enough that they took the Lady Vols best punches, stood their ground and then countered with a barrage of punches that the Lady Vols had no answer for.
“When it comes down to it, it is effort,” said Butler. “It is heart. It is desire. It is all those things that coaches say all the time. When talent is fairly equal, it comes down to who wants it more. I think that’s what we see from this team over and over and over again. They’re not going to be denied. When it comes down to it, I want the ball more than you do. I’m going to beat you to the spot. I’m going to dive and get on the floor before you do. It’s those little things that are making the difference.”
The little things did make the difference. In a game that Butler said the Gators believed they had to win every single possession to have a chance, they played hard every single play. Even when things weren’t going well, there was effort, determination and non-stop energy.
The Gators made their share of mistakes but they forced Tennessee — 19 turnovers that Florida converted into 23 points — into even more. Florida was relentless. Tennessee wasn’t.
“Clearly they are not a team that takes possessions off and we’re a team that takes possessions off,” said Summit, just two days removed from a win over Georgia that gave her 1,000 wins for her coaching career. It is a career that includes 37 wins over the Florida Gators and after Sunday afternoon, three losses.
Florida’s third win in history over Summit and the Lady Vols will be remembered for two things: Sha Brooks heating up like a microwave to score 12-straight second half points that brought the Gators back from a seven-point deficit and a defensive effort that could be described as a school of hungry piranhas attacking until they had stripped every bit of flesh off the Lady Vols.
A teardrop layup by Glory Jones with 7:28 remaining put Tennessee ahead by seven (50-43) and in years past that might have been the signal for the Gators to fold their tents against the Lady Vols. The Gators only had a couple of Trumae Lucas free throws to show for the previous four minutes and the offense was so stagnant the Lady Vols forced a shot clock violation with 10:55 left in the game. But rather than give in, the Gators dug their heels in.
Even though one more bad possession might have been all the Lady Vols needed, Brooks answered with a fearless barrage of three-pointers. She hit the first of three three-pointers that turned the game around with 7:05 remaining and that breathed life into an O-Dome crowd that had spent the last four minutes with the volume turned down. The Vols answered with a layup by 6-6 center Kelley Cain but Brooks came back down the court and nailed another three-ball with 6:14 left to cut the lead to 52-49. The momentum had clearly shifted in Florida’s favor and the crowd was back in it.
“It’s hard to not start cheering with the crowd,” said Butler. “I really had to check myself a couple of times. I really got caught up in the energy.”
After Brooks made it a one-point game with two free throws with 5:42 remaining, it was time for Florida’s defense to come up with a game-changing play. Tennessee was looking to get the ball in the paint to either Cain or 6-3 Alyssia Brewer but the Gators wouldn’t let their guards penetrate. One double team forced the ball beyond the time line and a second double team forced a bad pass that almost created an over and back. A third double team forced the ball into the hands of Angie Bjorklund, whose dribble was cut off by yet another double team before she could get a shot off.
Florida answered on the other end with a banked in three-ball from the top of the key by Brooks to take the lead for good (54-52) at the 4:27 mark. On its next possession, the Vols squeezed off three Scuds from behind the three-point line before a double team forced Shekina Strickland into a walking violation.
The Gators got three points at the foul line, two by Marshae Dotson and one by Brooks, and Tennessee got a floater in the lane by Strickland to set the stage for the dagger to the heart by Steffi Sorenson. It was 57-55 and the Gators had the ball under their own basket on an out of bounds play when Sorenson got lost in the shuffle after rubbing off a screen. She moved to the corner where Brooks found her all alone. She already had her feet set when she caught and launched the three-pointer that gave the Gators a five-point lead with 1:23 remaining.
“We just got lost … we didn’t close out long,” said Summit dejectedly. “We were basically in the paint and we didn’t see her. We didn’t react.”
Florida closed out the game by hitting 6-8 free throws in the final minute to win this one going away, sending the Lady Vols (17-6, 6-3 SEC) back to Knoxville in the unaccustomed spot of fourth place in the league.
The Gators are tied with Auburn for first place in the conference and they’ll get a challenge Thursday night when they face Vanderbilt (18-6, 7-2) in Nashville. The Commodores are another tall team and they were picked to win the SEC in the preseason poll. Butler and the Gators will approach them the same way they approach every team they play.
“I’ve got so much confidence in how they play together and they have so much confidence in one another,” said Butler. “We know that if the outcome of the game is going to be determined by effort and determined by pursuit of the ball and those things we’re going to be in good shape.”
GAME NOTES: Summit has a 1,000-188 record for her career. Butler (81-38; 41-16 at Florida) needs only 919 wins to catch the Tennessee legend … Asked after the game if beating Tennessee was a big deal, Butler responded, “Is it something to be excited about? My gosh, I grew up in Tennessee! Are you kidding me? I went to Pat Summit’s basketball camp when I was 15 years old. That’s what we did in Mt. Juliet. We went to basketball camp in Knoxville” … Brooks scored 29 points to move up to 1,689 for her career. She needs 110 more points to pass Quientella Bonner for fifth on Florida’s all-time scoring list … Dotson scored 10. With eight more points she will move into 12th place all-time on the Florida scoring list … Sorenson has scored at least one three-pointer in 19 straight games … Florida was outrebounded 49-36 but the Gators outscored the Lady Vols 23-8 on points off turnovers … The Gators were 20-28 from the foul line while the Lady Vols were only 2-8.