The Florida women’s basketball team made 50 percent of its shots in a season-opening win over Stetson, but coach Amanda Butler thought it could do even better.
It didn’t quite turn out that way.
UF couldn’t overcome a 27-percent (9 of 33) second-half shooting effort and fell 66-62 to No. 15 Florida State (2-0) in the O’Connell Center on Tuesday.
Florida (1-1) finished the night 20 of 61 from the floor (32.8 percent), including a 29-percent showing from behind the 3-point line (9 of 31).
“It’s not like we played well,” Butler said. “The shooting night, when we look back on it, was not typical of our team. We know that this was a bad shooting night for us.”
Despite its shooting woes, UF managed to keep it close the entire night. Florida State needed an Alexa Deluzio jumper with 37 seconds left to take the lead for good. The Seminoles struggled from the free-throw line, finishing 11 of 20 (55 percent).
“That’s why we were in position to win the ball game at the end — because of our effort and fight,” Butler said. “We’ve just got to get better at closing out ball games. We had our opportunities.”
Senior Sharielle Smith scored a team-high 18 points and tallied 13 rebounds, tying career highs in both. The forward struggled at times from the field, finishing 4 of 11, but nailed four three-pointers and was 6 of 9 from the free-throw line.
Transfer Jordan Jones scored 13 points, dished out five assists and grabbed three steals in her second game in a UF uniform. Azania Stewart added 8 points in 25 minutes on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Gators opened the game on an 11-4 run against a Seminoles’ defense that allowed 10 first-half points against UNF on Friday. Through the first five minutes, the Gators used defense to generate offense but struggled after two Smith free throws at the 15:09 mark.
Smith nailed a three-pointer with 3:03 remaining in the first half and then added a free throw and another shot from beyond the arc with 1:07 remaining in the first half to give the Gators a 35-32 lead heading into halftime.
The second half followed suit, going back-and-forth with three lead changes. The Gators went into a drought for more than three minutes, ending with a three-pointer by Smith with 4:24 left.
“It was a tremendous challenge and certainly (FSU was) ready, but I think that we showed that we can play with anyone,” Butler said. “We showed that is indeed the level we should be competing at.”
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