The Alabama women’s basketball team fell to Florida, 87-54, Sunday afternoon at the O’Connell Center. With the loss, the Crimson Tide drops to 12-10 overall and 2-7 in the Southeastern Conference while the win brings the Gators to 14-9 on the season and 3-6 in the league.
“Florida did a great job of coming out ready to play,” Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson said. “They made shots and our defensive pressure obviously wasn’t very good today. We need to get back to the things that make us a good basketball team like sharing the ball. We also need to be able to hit some shots if we are going to have a chance to win.”
(See also “Women’s basketball team seeks SEC win”)
Redshirt sophomore Kaneisha Horn led Alabama in scoring with 14 points while senior Meghan Perkins chipped in another 10. Perkins also finished with a team-high six rebounds. Florida was led by freshman Christin Mercer with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Tide junior Jasmine Robinson would knock down one free throw to get Alabama on the board first; however, Florida scored the next 11 straight points as the Tide went 0-6 from the floor. Alabama pulled within seven at the 5:23 mark, but the Gators closed out the half on a 13-0 run to lead by 20, 43-23, at the break. Florida would finish the half shooting 61.5 percent (16-26) from the floor, including 5-of-8 from three-point range while the Tide managed 24.4 percent (10-41) overall.
In the second half, Alabama and Florida traded baskets over the first few minutes before the Gators strung together a 14-5 run to extend its lead to 30, its largest advantage of the game to that point. Florida would go on to lead by as many as 34 in the contest.
For the game, the Gators shot 58.3 percent (35-60), including 50 percent (6-12) from three-point range. The Tide went 25.7 percent (19-74) overall and managed only 13.0 percent (3-23) from beyond the arc. Florida out-rebounded Alabama, 51-33, and collected 22 assists compared to the Tide’s six.
The Tide returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 7, when it hosts No. 15 South Carolina in Foster Auditorium. The game is slated to tip at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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