Gainesville, Fla. ? Host Florida (2-1) used its size advantage with post players Aneika Henry and Marshae Dotson to record an 82-46 victory over the Stetson women's basketball team (1-3) at the O'Connell Center Thursday evening. Freshman guard Jessica Bivins (Orlando, Fla.) led the Hatters with 13 points and five steals while sophomore center Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla.) notched 10 points and tied her career high with 11 rebounds en route to her first career double-double.
Down by 18 points at halftime, Stetson could not withstand an early second half Florida rush, falling behind by upwards of 30 points in the first seven minutes of the second period. The Hatters trailed by as many as 43 points before cutting the final margin down to 36.
“We knew coming in that Florida had a big size advantage over us, so we tried to front the post and force them to try the high-low on us,” Head Coach Lynn Bria said. “Unfortunately for us, they proved really adept at doing that, more than we thought they could based on film. My hat goes off to (Florida Head Coach) Amanda (Butler) for executing a great gameplan.”
Senior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Stetson. The Hatters suffered a poor shooting night (16-66, .242), especially from three-point land where they made just one of 16 attempts. Some positives for Stetson statistically included winning the turnover battle 21-24 and collecting 17 offensive rebounds, seven of them by Conner.
Dotson and Henry combined for 28 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes, converting 11 of their 21 total field goal attempts. Dotson finished with a game-high 16 points along with nine rebounds on her own.
The Hatters hung with the Gators for the first eight and a half minutes, trailing just 8-6 at the first and 13-10 at the second media timeout. The punishing inside presence of Florida center Marshae Dotson allowed Florida to extend its lead to six over the next minute.
Stetson went ice-cold for much of the rest of the half, scoring just four points over a 10-minute stretch from 11:30 to 1:30. This allowed Florida to head into the locker room with a 36-18 lead.
Bivins had nine points in the first half to lead the Hatters while Conner collected a team-high four rebounds. Dotson paced the Gators with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Stetson, which has played four games in the first seven days of the season, is off until Tuesday, November 25 when it travels to Southeastern Louisiana for a 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) tip-off. Bill Topping willl broadcast the action online through Hatter Vision. His commentary can be heard at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
