Florida honored its five seniors Sunday after the game, but the post-game mood was a blend of disappointment and celebration.
The Gators (14-15, 7-9 Southeastern Conference) lost to Alabama for the second time this season by a score of 66-61. It was an improvement from the 82-58 blowout loss UF suffered Jan. 21, but it still put a damper on honoring the seniors.
The Crimson Tide (12-17, 4-12 SEC) used a solid first half where they outrebounded UF 18-12 to put some space between themselves and the Gators before holding on for the win.
“I’m really disappointed for them,” UF coach Amanda Butler said about her seniors. “As a coach, you hope you’re going to have many, many more days and Senior Days and all those opportunities to be part of.
“But you only get one Senior Day, and you want it to be perfect. Obviously, ours was not perfect tonight.”
Florida freshman Jennifer George shined on a day when the spotlight was thrust on her senior teammates. She scored a game-high 16 and tied a season high with 10 boards, marking her first-career double-double.
Seniors Steffi Sorensen, Jennifer Mossor, Susan Yenser, Lonnika Thompson and Sharielle Smith all started their final game at the O’Connell Center, though the team’s 11th different starting lineup this season failed to set the tone early.
“Certainly Senior Day was a small part of it,” Butler said about the all-senior starting lineup. “The bigger part of it is, we thought that was the best five to start this ballgame.”
The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 22-8 lead in the first 11 minutes, during which UF made just four field goals and zero three pointers. It was a lead UF threatened to take but never claimed.
The Gators hurt themselves with 31.7-percent shooting and made just two of their 23 attempts from beyond the arc (8.7 percent).
They went 0 for 12 from three-point range in the second half. It was the second-fewest three-pointers UF had made all season and the team’s second-lowest three-point percentage on the year.
Alabama shot 51 percent, including a 41.7-percent clip from three-point range.
Tierney Jenkins, who carried UA in its first game against UF, was held to eight points and seven rebounds, while Dedrea Magee played 39 minutes and scored 13 with six rebounds.
George was the only Gator in double figures, but Sorensen had nine points and nine rebounds.
“It’s certainly been a journey, that’s what makes this game so hard,” Sorensen said. “Other people aren’t really blessed with the flowers and the nice crowd. It’s just something you don’t really think about as far as growing up.”
Florida trailed 34-26 at the half, but after 10 steals and a four-minute Alabama shooting drought in the second half, the Gators cut the score to 57-54 with 3:45 remaining. Jenkins made her next two buckets and had a critical steal with 17 seconds left to seal the victory.
Florida begins the postseason Thursday, with the first round of the SEC Tournament. UF earned the No. 7 seed and will face 10th-seeded Auburn at 2:30 p.m.
