By Molly Catherine Walsh | Staff Writer
Florida guard Dyandria Anderson rebounded a missed shot by Alabama forward Ashley Williams with 8:50 left in the third period. The Crimson Tide shuffled in their pink sneakers to try to stop forward Haley Lorenzen from scoring, but to no avail. The score evened out 31-31 before Florida forward Ronni Williams rebounded Alabama point guard Jordan Lewis’ shot and then managed to score herself which brought the Gators ahead of the Crimson Tide 33-31. The Gators ran with that lead until the final buzzer and won the game 66-56.
The Alabama Crimson Tide women’s basketball team (15-10, 3-9 SEC) returned home to Tuscaloosa to face the University of Florida Gators (13-12, 4-8 SEC) in Coleman Coliseum for the annual Power of Pink game/Play for Kay breast cancer awareness game. Fans and players sported pink t-shirts and sneakers in support of the cause.
“I’m very proud of the way we rebounded our basketball,” Florida Gators head coach Amanda Butler said. “We’ve had a tough week… and only had one day to get ready for this game and I think it shows a great deal of leadership and a great deal of maturity and really shows you that our upperclassmen are making sure as we’re coming down this really important stretch here in February that we’re continually doing the right things, no matter where we’re playing.”
While the Crimson Tide struggled to rebound and create scoring opportunities in the second half, it also suffered beyond the three-point line. Alabama only made four out of its 19 3-pointers while Florida made six of its 18.
“We weren’t able to get some stops and really make some plays offensively,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. “I thought we had every opportunity to knock down some looks and we just weren’t able to. They’re so good, they out-rebounded their opponents by four-plus, and they’ve had some nights where they’ve done this, and the emphasis all week had just been making sure we do a great job of rebounding and boxing out, and we weren’t able to do that. I think any time in this league that you get out-rebounded by 20 and have 17 turnovers you’re going to have a hard time winning.”
A major part of Florida’s victory was their efforts on defense, they out-rebounded Alabama 50-30 which allowed the Gators more opportunities to score.
The game was a physical one and both teams accounted for several fouls throughout the game. Alabama freshman Jordan Lewis remained un-phased in regards to the aggressive style of Sunday’s game as she said that every game is physical and that this one was no different.
“We take pride in our defense and that’s why we get down on the floor anytime we can, we slap the floor every time to get down in the stance and get ready to play defense because defense is what helped us win this game tonight. It wasn’t because we outscored them or anything like that, it was because of our defense.” Lorenzen said.
The Crimson Tide will play the University of Tennessee Volunteers (16-9, 7-5 SEC) on Thursday at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, tip off is set for 7 p.m.
