The UF women’s basketball team was outsized in its loss against No. 13 FSU on Tuesday.
But that experience will come in handy sooner rather than later.
The team plays its first road contest of the season at Pittsburgh tonight. The Panthers (1-0) pose a size advantage similar to that of the Seminoles. It’s the second game the Gators (1-1) are playing in a span of four days.
“Pitt is huge,” coach Amanda Butler said. “They’re a lot bigger than us. They have size that we just don’t have, strength that we just don’t have. But we have things they don’t have.”
The Panthers routed North Florida 61-35 and held the Ospreys to 29.8 percent shooting and forced 27 turnovers.
Against FSU, the Gators played stingy defense — forcing 19 Seminoles turnovers — and smaller lineups to gain a quickness advantage against a larger team.
Targeting foul-prone players also proved to be an effective strategy, neutralizing the physicality of bigger post players by forcing them to the bench with foul trouble.
And while strategizing may be productive, the Gators know they’ll need more shots to fall in future games.
Sharielle Smith, the only effective shooter beyond the three-point line (4 of 6) Tuesday for UF, racked up 18 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.
Following the game, players have been taking shots in practice during shooting drills as if they were being guarded, trying to mimic game-speed shooting.
“Me and Steffi (Sorensen) were terrible from behind the 3-point line, and I just don’t think that’s going to happen again,” said Jordan Jones, who finished 2 of 11 from beyond the arc. “We got our bad shooting night out of the way.”
Jones and Sorensen combined for a bleak 4 for 21 from beyond the arc, and the Gators only shot 33 percent from the field and 29 percent from downtown.
“I don’t believe in moral victories at all, but if there is such a thing, then (FSU) was something we can build off of,” Jones said.
Despite the faulty shooting, the team only lost by four against the Seminoles.
“We’re supposed to be this great shooting team, but we weren’t,” Butler said. “But we were still in position to win the ballgame.”
