Wahoo!! Yippee!! Of all the Gator victories this weekend, this one was best! Yay! Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message----- From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:31:45 To: <[email protected]> Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: UF women's hoops pulls upset of No. 20 Georgia [FitzGerald] UF women's hoops pulls upset of No. 20 Georgia By Ray FitzGerald Gainesville SUN Correspondent Published: Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, February 22, 2010 at 12:11 a.m. The last time the Florida women’s basketball team played in the O’Connell Center, it put on possibly the worst performance in program history. Just before tip-off of Sunday’s nationally televised matchup against No. 20 Georgia, the team looked like it could duplicate Feb. 11’s 30-point clunker. With starting center Azania Stewart sidelined and in a walking boot with a left-foot stress fracture, and 5-foot-10 Susan Yenser getting the first start of her life at power forward, Florida gave up a combined 10 inches to a much larger Georgia front court. Much to the delight of the 3,310 in attendance, the Gators made up what they lacked in height with heart and hustle. Florida exceeded its output in the loss to LSU before the half. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the team had doubled it and outpaced the Bulldogs 64-57 to get back to .500 in SEC play. It wasn’t UF’s prettiest win. The team went the final 8:49 without a field goal and finished 17-of-51 (33.3) from the field. A 14-point lead midway through the second half was whittled to as little as four in the final minute, but Florida (14-13, 7-7 SEC) held on with its 22-of-29 (75.9) shooting from the free-throw line and 8-of-27 (29.6) from long range. “To say this is a tremendous win is a gross understatement,” said Gator Coach Amanda Butler, who’s led her team to a 7-7 conference record, good for sixth place, with two games to play. “Everything that we’ve been talking about, in terms of what makes us a good team, showed up tonight.” Florida was led by Steffi Sorensen, who tied a career high with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Sharielle Smith, who started at center and gave up seven inches to Georgia’s Angel Robinson, finished with 11 points and nine boards, out-doing Robinson’s two point, three rebound performance. After falling behind 7-0 in the opening 3:40, Florida bounced back to the tune of a 31-10 run. Georgia’s height had little impact on Florida’s speed as Bulldog coach Andy Landers stormed up and down the sideline, face as red as his team’s mascot, trying to get his team to mount a run. Landers went with a smaller lineup to start the second half. The unit made slow strides, chipping the lead away in the final 20 minutes, but couldn’t negate the damage caused by the 26.9-percent shooting in the first half. UF struggled from the field in the final nine minutes, missing its final nine shots, but supplementing it with pestering zone defense and nine points from the line. Despite the size differential, the Gators still out-rebounded Georgia 38-33 and out-scored the Bulldogs in second-chance opportunities 17-4. Georgia was led by Porsha Phillips’ 14 points and 12 rebounds. The team hit 22-of-52 field goals (42.3 percent), 6-of-22 (27.3) from long range and out-scored the Gators 28-14 in the paint. “It’s a huge win. It’s a rival win,” Sorensen said. “Everyone knows Florida doesn’t like Georgia. It’s what it’s all about and why you come (to Florida).” -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
