Playing Tennessee again was not the recipe UF wanted to cook up to start the postseason.
It showed Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament as the Volunteers (22-9, 9-5 SEC) held off the Gators (23-7, 9-5 SEC) 71-67 in the teams' second meeting this season in North Little Rock, Ark.
Despite trailing by 17 at halftime, UF fought its way nearly all the way back but came up short late in the game.
"In the second half it was a fantastic fight," UF coach Amanda Butler said. "I was very, very proud of our effort, of our emotion, of our energy. It would've been very easy just to throw in the towel."
Tennessee used its height as an advantage to assert itself early on and build the big lead.
The Volunteers dominated the Gators' shorter post players in the first half, clearing out shots for open shooters on the perimeter to take a 38-21 advantage to the locker room.
UF battled back in the second half to get as close as 3 with less than four minutes remaining.
Tennessee guard Shekinna Stricklen put the nail in the coffin when she hit a jumper to put her team up 7 with about 2:30 left.
Angie Bjorklund was another thorn in UF's side. The Tennessee guard nailed 3-point shot after 3-point shot to steal the momentum away each time UF cut into the lead.
Although she had struggled shooting recently and was held scoreless the day before, Bjorklund finished with 25 points to help her team shoot 7 of 14 from beyond the arc.
"We knew she was going to come out and try and prove herself tonight," Butler said. "It felt like that every time that she took a shot it went in. We gave her too many open looks."
UF battled through foul trouble across the board, particularly in the first half.
Marshae Dotson played just 9 minutes and scored just 2 points before the break due to foul trouble.
Butler challenged her at halftime, however, and the senior responded with 18 second-half points.
"You can't let a good team like that get such a commanding lead," Butler said. "There was a lot of energy expended. We had to press. We had to make plays."
Sha Brooks showed some toughness of her own after coming back from an injury early in the game. The senior guard was folded up underneath the basket when Tennessee center Kelley Cain fell on top of her less than four minutes into the game.
Brooks recovered to score a team-high 22, but she fouled out with 2:30 left.
"As disappointing as this is to be leaving here with a loss right now, I also think that there's a lot to build on going into the postseason," Butler said.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
