Florida had a chance to beat a subpar Southeastern Conference opponent on Thursday night.
But as has been the case so often this season, the Gators failed to seize the opportunity when it was there for the taking.
Despite numerous opportunities to overtake the Tigers, the Gators women’s basketball team couldn’t quite make shots when it mattered most.
Florida trailed the entire game, yet cut the lead to just one point eight times throughout the contest, falling 68-52 to Missouri (12-9, 2-6 SEC) on Thursday night in the O’Connell Center.
Carlie Needles started the first half shooting lights-out by hitting her first five shots – all three-pointers.
But Needles would score just three points in the second half, all on free throws, finishing the game with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field before fouling out with less than two minutes to play.
Coach Amanda Butler said that the Tigers played the way Florida expected them to, but that the team didn’t do a good job employing the game plan that was prepared.
"They really didn’t do anything we didn’t expect them to do," Butler said. "They just did it very well. We just had critical breakdowns, whether it be by not communicating or not really challenging the shot. We got shot in our face a couple times. Things I thought we did a good job preparing for, but obviously I didn’t do a good enough job getting us ready."
After Needles fueled the Florida (10-11, 2-6 SEC) offense, the Tigers came out with a completely different defensive strategy that doubled the Gators guards up top and baited the team into throwing the ball into the post.
But Florida’s forwards couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities. Haley Lorenzen and Ronni Williams, Florida’s primary post threats, combined to go 4-of-14 from the field in what was a cold shooting night for the entire team.
The Tigers attempted to force Florida to beat them from the free throw line, but the Gators shot the ball poorly from the charity stripe.
UF couldn’t get into a rhythm from the line, converting just 9-of-19 free throws.
Morgan Eye, who entered the game needing 56 three-pointers to set the NCAA all-time mark in that category, hit two three’s while struggling with foul trouble.
Eye picked up her fourth foul with 14:24 to play in the second half, and saw minimal playing time before checking out for good with 3:11 to play with the Tigers up 17.
Missouri’s forwards gave the Gators fits in the post. Florida found itself outrebounded 46-31, including surrendering 12 offensive rebounds.
Every game remaining is a must-win if Florida hopes to have any chance of making a second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Yet the schedule does no favors for UF heading into February. Florida plays just two games at home next month – a tough contest against No. 6 Tennessee on Feb. 8 and Vanderbilt on Feb. 19.
Florida plays five of its next seven games on the road before returning home on March 1 to face Georgia in the regular season finale.
For Florida, the team is still searching for answers as the season winds to a close.
Butler said it continues to be a struggle executing in games as well as they execute in practice.
"It’s really baffling, because I love coaching them and I love how hard they work for each other in practice every day," Butler said. "There’s still just a big gap in carry over (from practice)."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
Carlie Needles dribbles the ball down the court during Florida's loss to Missouri on Thursday in the O'Connell Center.
