In their last regular season road game, the Florida women’s basketball team (13-15, 5-10 SEC) rallied in the second half to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide 53-49.
“As a group we just did a great job of staying positive and sticking to the game plan,” said Florida coach Amanda Butler. “We had a lot of things that weren’t going our way, and we just refused to dwell on those things.”
The Gators struggled during the first half. They committed 10 team fouls to Alabama’s five and entered the half down 25-22. They were led by Haley Lorenzen who scored eight points. They shot 9-for-24 from the field, 0-for-4 from three, and allowed five three pointers in the first half alone for the Crimson Tide.
Late in the first half Carlie Needles left with what looked like a high ankle sprain. She would return later in the game but she could not get comfortable resulting in her second straight scoreless game.
At the beginning of the second half, the Gators struggled with foul trouble, turnovers, and poor execution. But with about 10 minutes left in the game, Cassie Peoples took over the game for her team as she finished with 18 points.
“Her play in the second half was just fabulous,” said Butler. “It was nothing short of her best game this season. To do all of that in the second half she just finished with such confidence, made good decisions, and did a great job with leading our team.”
Ronni Williams also played a huge role in the win. She made two big free throws with fiver seconds left in the game to stretch the Gator lead from two to four to ice the game. The Williams made free throws were followed by two by Peoples making the final score 53-49.
Florida will play in its last game of the regular season Sunday at home against Georgia where they will honor their one and only senior Kayla Lewis.
“She is a person that deserves to be honored with a win and I hope we have a ton of people come out for her,” said Butler.
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Butler on Needles’ performance