Kiara Smith led the way for the Gators with 22 points.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s five-game win streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon after a Gators’ comeback attempt fell short against No. 1 South Carolina, 62-50, in Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Kiara Smith led the Gators (15-6, 5-3 SEC) with 22 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal while Zippy Broughton also scored in double-figures, ending with 11. For the game, Florida shot 20-of-65 (30.8%) from the field and 2-of-11 (18.2%) from three-point range.
The Florida defense made the Gamecocks (20-1, 8-1 SEC) uncomfortable as well, however, holding the opposition to 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field and 3-of-13 (23.1%) from deep. The Orange & Blue also forced South Carolina into 21 turnovers, their second highest number of the season, led by Jordyn Merritt and Nina Rickards with three steals each.
A key difference in the game came on the glass as the Gamecocks ended with a 56-28 rebounding advantage, including 18 on the offensive end. Merritt and Taliyah Wyche led the Gator effort with seven and six rebounds, respectively. Despite the size difference, the difference in points in the paint was only four at 34-30, in favor of South Carolina.
The Gamecocks also held a significant advantage at the charity stripe, shooting 26 total free throws and converting on 19 while the Gators shot just 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the line. Aliyah Boston was the leader on the court for South Carolina, ending with 13 points and 19 rebounds.
South Carolina wasted no time in establishing control, racing out to a commanding 19-3 lead after the first quarter that saw the Gators shoot just 1-of-19. The Gamecocks would continue to roll, taking a 33-13 lead into halftime before extending their lead to 28 in the third quarter.
Florida, however, would not roll over and go away quietly. Freshman Jeriah Warren and veteran Smith would take over at the end of the period, scoring the team’s final 15 points to help end the frame on a 15-3 run, closing the gap to 48-32 after trailing 45-17. Warren’s contribution off of the bench was almost immediate during the run, knocking down a triple with 3:59 on the clock and converting on a scoop-and-score with 1:31 left in the third.
Momentum continued to favor the Gators to start the final quarter, as Merritt muscled her way into the post to convert an and-one opportunity and make it just a 13-point game less than 40 seconds into it. Five quick points extended the Gamecock lead back to 18 with 7:20 remaining and both teams would continue to trade buckets until the 47-second mark.
The Gators never relented on their defensive intensity, and it paid off late. Smith’s steal and layup with under 45 seconds to go made it a 13-point game and another fast break layup from Broughton with 10 seconds left would keep the opposition’s lead at 13. While South Carolina did hang on for the 62-50 victory, Florida outscored South Carolina 37-29 in the second half and held the number one team in the nation to 9-of-29 (31%) shooting during the final 20 minutes.
Florida’s schedule doesn’t get any easier in the coming week, as they welcome No. 4 Tennessee to Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Thursday, Feb. 3 for a 6 p.m. ET tip.
Quotables
Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley
On the first quarter…
“I mean, you know we were one for nineteen in the first quarter. And if you would tell me that that was going to be the case and we were gonna be in a ten-point game down the stretch, I would tell you you’re crazy. Right? I think that felt like there was a lid on the basket there, a lot of those shots maybe we were a little bit more wide open then we had anticipated. South Carolina has a length that is very hard to simulate. But I though we got good looks. I didn’t think our looks were bad looks, they’re not different than anything then what we’ve seen all season so far. But an expectation to execute and knock them down. We knew at some point they would start to fall. Which is why I don’t think you saw panic. You know you just simply have to start better shooting from the floor if you are going to beat a team like that.”
On what was said to the team after the first quarter…
“You know if you focus on what has just happened, I’m not sure you’re going to find a solution. So, we are a solution based coaching staff. We are a solution-based team. And that’s what we did. We tried different combinations and different sets, our actions. But most of all just tried to get back to who we are and what makes us go, which is out point guard right here, Kiki Smith. Her ability to move that ball through the center of the floor, to make reads, and get some easy transition looks. You know South Carolina really limited that in the first quarter which maybe made us a little more stagnant than we had hoped to be.”
On the belief of the team…
“Oh, we believe in ourselves a lot. I think nobody believes in us more than us, and we know that we’re enough. I think that our mentality, Kiki and I talked at halftime, our mentality going into the half was, and we sat down together, was what can we help you more with? You know so it’s an us versus them mentality, right. And what do we need to adjust? What are you feeling? What are you seeing that maybe is being missed? What adjustments can we make? I felt like most of it was in our mentality and our tunnel vision. You know you want to plat in between those four lines, and you want to play like you practice, and we practice awfully hard. And not to make an excuse but I think we had a good long week of practice. I think we improved quite a bit. We had a bye on Thursday, which I think was good for our bodies. So, you know I don’t know how much that played into it too.”
Graduate Guard Kiara Smith
On the difference between losing and making the other team beat you…
“Honestly, I think that when she brought it to our attention yesterday, I think it stuck with us a lot. I don’t think we really realized that there is a difference between losing and being beat. And I think that as a team we understand that you know you’re not going to win every game but as long as we play our hardest, and we play the basketball that we practice twenty-four seven, that we know that we are always going to do the best that we can.”
On how much of a challenge Aliyah Boston presented today…
“I mean like you said Aliyah Boston is a very talented player. We knew coming to this game that as long as we can limit her, and our guards can play one on one defense, then we knew that it was going to be a tough game. I think that’s what I give all credit to our fours and our fives for, you know playing hard on her and being physical, just as physical with her as she was with them. I think that the guards did a good job of guarding our own man so that the fours didn’t have to help as much as we didn’t want them to. So, I think that definitely played a part in it.”
Postgame Bites
– South Carolina improves their series advantage to 22-20 after Sunday’s victory.
– Florida’s attendance of 5,319 is the largest since 5,031 on January 21, 1999 when Pat Summitt’s Tennessee team came to town.
– Florida forced the Gamecocks into 21 turnovers, which is South Carolina’s second-highest number of the season.
– The 62 points by South Carolina also marked the second-lowest scoring output of the season for the opposition.
– Smith now boasts 1,377 points, just four away from tying Sophia Witherspoon (1988-91) for 16th in school history.
– #GoGators –
