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Thursday, March 28, 2024

With a showdown at No. 22 FSU looming, the UF women's basketball team is starting to figure out what it needs to do defensively to win games.

Their defensive effort Thursday night against Stetson was good enough to help them claim an 82-46 victory in a game that was over at halftime.

Every active player on UF's roster played, and all but two scored.

Since the Gators (2-1) gave up 88 points in a loss at Florida Gulf Coast last week, they have held their last two opponents to just 51 and 46 points and less than 25 percent shooting.

"We're very good when we start quickly," UF coach Amanda Butler said. "Especially with our defense, we've got a chance to be a good team when we do that."

Marshae Dotson nearly had a double-double in the first half and almost scored as many as UF's opponent.

Dotson had 12 at the break, while Stetson had 18.

The senior forward came out after the game was out of reach early in the second half and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, much to her chagrin.

"I was kind of mad I didn't get (the double-double)," Dotson said. "I didn't care about the points, I wanted the 10th rebound, but Coach kind of gave me a good example of something could've happened. So I'm like, 'OK, I don't feel as bad.'"

"She can get the 10th rebound in Tallahassee," Butler added with a laugh.

One indication of the Gators' improving defense is they held the Hatters to 17.4 percent shooting in the first half, just three days after holding Jacksonville to 23.5 percent shooting, their best field-goal defense since 1995.

Jennifer Mossor helped UF get going early in the game. She finished with 10 points and was happy to see the rest of her teammates get the chance to play.

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"It makes us feel real good," Mossor said. "Especially the starting five going out there and knowing that we went out there and did our job, that way we can get everybody else reps so that they have game experience, because down the road we're going to need them."

UF put the game out of reach about midway through the first half after going on an 11-0 run and put them up by 19.

After playing Stetson close last year in a 54-50 win, Butler had only one explanation as to why this year's contest was so different.

"We're a better team this year than last year," she said. "There's no question about that."

Stetson coach Lynn Bria agreed.

"I've seen Florida teams in the past, this team's much-improved," Bria said.

Now, UF will look ahead to its trip to Tallahassee on Sunday to face rival FSU, and Butler knows nothing about that game will be easy.

"They are very good, and it's going to be a big challenge for us," she said. "They've done a fantastic job of coming out of the gates with their season and establishing themselves as a top-25 team. It's going to be a battle."

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