Gainesville, Fla. ? The visiting Stetson women's basketball team (1-5) battled host Florida into the final seconds Monday evening at the O'Connell Center, but were unable to catch up in the end as the Gators claimed the 54-50 victory. Hatter freshman guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla./First Academy) led all scorers with a career-high 22 points.
Florida ended the first half and began the second with an 8-2 run that extended its lead to 12 points (39-27) with 17:24 to go. The Hatters would not be able to get within single digits again until the very final minute of the game. The Gators slowly built their lead to 16 points on the heels of a five-minute plus Stetson scoring drought that didn't end until senior guard Jamie Nesbit (Tucson, Ariz.) sank an 18-footer from the right wing with approximately 12 minutes to play.
The Hatters got back within 10 on two different occasions, the last with just over eight minutes to play, but could not get any closer until 30 seconds remained, when freshman guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla.) sank a three-pointer to cut the Florida lead to 54-47. Following a Gator turnover, Brown drilled a trey of her own to make it a four-point game with 12 seconds left, but that would be as close as Stetson could get as the Gators claimed their 10th straight win over Stetson.
Junior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) didn't dent the scoreboard for more than two points, but had a strong all-around game anyway, finishing with a career-high 11 rebounds along with eight assists, one shy of her career high. Brown hit three three-pointers in the game and finished with three steals. Stetson outscored Florida 25-21 in the second half and did not allow the Gators a field goal in the final 10 minutes.
Sha Brooks led Florida (4-2) with 16 points, adding five rebounds and three steals. Marshae Dotson scored 10 points with a team-high eight rebounds. Depree Bowden led all players with five steals to go with seven points and five boards. Florida made 17 of 23 free throws in the game while Stetson hit just one of three.
After Bowden started the game with a three-pointer to give Florida the lead, Stetson surprised its SEC hosts with an 8-0 run. The Gators, however, responded with a 7-0 streak of their own to retake the lead. The Hatters scored the next four to go back ahead 12-10 with 12:45 left in the half. 10 of Stetson's first 12 points were scored on layups thanks to strong penetrations by the Hatter backcourt.
Florida would get the next nine points (the first six by Sha Brooks), to open up a seven point lead halfway to intermission. Smith ended the Stetson drought with a near-impossibly angled layup from the right block to get the visitors within 19-14 with approximately nine minutes left in the first half.
Following a Kellie Olson (Tucson, Ariz.) three-pointer that made it a two-point ballgame, the Gators went on a 10-0 run that mainly involved layups by 6'3” Florida center Aneika Henry on high-low plays and fastbreaks. That run was ended by Brown, who drilled back-to-back trifectas to get the Hatters back within six in the final minutes of the half. Florida led at halftime 33-25.
Brown scored 10 points in the first half to lead all scorers while freshman forward Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa HS) scored all six of her points for the Hatters before halftime. Brooks led Florida with eight points, six of which came at the free throw line. Florida made nine of 10 free throw attempts in the first half while Stetson did not get to the charity stripe at all. Smith grabbed a Stetson team-high six rebounds.
Stetson continues its road swing Saturday at South Alabama. Game time is 7 p.m. Central time (8 p.m. EST) from the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.
