For a team looking to avenge its season-ending blowout loss at North Carolina State last season, UF was led by seniors and sparked by newcomers to help it seek revenge Sunday.
UF (8-1) returned to Raleigh, N.C., more than eight months after an 80-55 pounding and led wire-to-wire in a 66-61 victory, thanks to the help of seniors Marshae Dotson and Sha Brooks.
After Dotson struggled against the Wolfpack in March, scoring just 6 points, the forward added 13 points and 9 rebounds this time around, including a key shot late in the game.
"My hat goes off to Marshae because she was 6 of 9 tonight, and I feel like she's just getting her head beat in every time that she is in the paint," UF coach Amanda Butler said. "She gets no calls. It's kind of like Shaquille O'Neal. It seems like she gets fouled on every play and she still keeps battling, has done a great job of maintaining her composure, despite all that contact."
Meanwhile, Brooks, starting her 100th consecutive game, single-handedly iced the game from the free-throw line, tallying 9 of her 15 points from the charity stripe.
Junior transfer guard Steffi Sorensen and freshman guard Trumae Lucas provided the spark the Gators needed in the second half, hitting big shots at the right time to help extend UF's lead late in the game.
When North Carolina State seemed to be recapturing momentum nearing the five-minute mark, Sorensen nailed a three to put the Gators up 57-46 and cease any hope the Wolfpack had left.
"That's players making plays," Butler said of Dotson's and Sorensen's clutch shots. "That's not coaches drawing up plays or anything like that."
Lucas, who had friends and family from her hometown of Greensboro, N.C., in attendance, had her biggest game to date, adding 9 points.
UF has now won eight in a row, including five away from home.
"It's going to be important for us to maintain our intensity," Butler said. "When you win a few ballgames in a row, you maybe start thinking about how good you are. So it's going to be important for us to keep pushing and being demanding."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
