Sydney Moss flirted with a triple-double Friday night in her first career game for the Gators.
In doing so, she pushed her coach out of the record book.
The freshman’s impressive stat line — 9 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists — was enough to propel Florida (1-0) to a 71-49 win against Fairfield (0-1) in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
“This kid is going to break a lot of records,” coach Amanda Butler said.
Moss broke the program record for most assists in a debut, which Butler partially held.
On Nov. 26, 1990, Butler collected six assists against William & Mary, making her one of three players in UF history to accomplish the feat.
“I would have taken [Moss] out sooner if I knew that was the case,” Butler joked. “I didn’t even know I had any records, so that was kind of exciting just to know that.”
In the first half, Moss had a difficult time getting much going offensively. Clearly frustrated, she took a seat on the bench with 7:47 remaining in the half.
Gators assistant David Lowery pulled Moss aside and calmed the freshman before she returned to the game.
“He told me to keep shooting and keep my head up,” Moss said. “So I did.”
She finished just 4-14 from the field but was able to make in impact in other facets of the game.
Moss said she learned to not let a bad shooting night affect the rest of her game from her grandpa during tough nights in high school.
Prior to the game, he sent her a reminder to keep her head in the game no matter what the results looked like.
“He texted me before the game and was like ‘Play hard and take pride in your defense,’” she said. “Even though I wasn’t scoring, I still tried to contribute to the team with rebounds and assists.”
Vicky McIntyre and Kayla Lewis led the Gators in scoring with 12 apiece. They were the only players who scored in double figures on a night when scoring was balanced, as each member of the Gators who played in the game scored at least three points.
Defense, which is what Butler has harped on all offseason, helped the team offensively. The Gators scored 31 points off 24 turnovers by Fairfield.
“We did a really good job of playing our defensive concepts and getting in the passing lanes,” Butler said. “And we knew if we did that, we would get some easy points.”
Florida was without the services of senior Jennifer George, who missed the game due to undisclosed personal reasons.
George is expected to be available when the Gators play Georgia State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
