Tara Washington glanced down at her phone as it started to buzz.
With two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, Florida’s women’s basketball team emptied its bench.
The number two appeared in the box score numerous times after Thursday night’s Florida women’s basketball game.
When seniors Haley Lorenzen and Paulina Hersler hear the buzzer sound for the final time as members of Florida’s women’s basketball team, they will leave a gaping hole in UF’s starting frontcourt.
There wasn’t a particular moment one could point to that swung the momentum of the game. There wasn’t a slick crossover or a single bucket or rebound that signaled it would be Florida’s day.
A hand in her face didn’t stop Dyandria Anderson. From the left wing of the three-point line, the senior guard shot over her defender, finding nothing but the bottom of the net and giving Florida a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter.
With just over a minute left in the fourth quarter and the Florida women’s basketball team down by one possession, Texas A&M had the ball. From the right wing, freshman Chennedy Carter pulled up from three and watched as her shot fell through the basket.
If the Gators women’s basketball team was disappointed following its fifth consecutive loss of SEC play on Sunday, it hardly showed. Instead, coach Cameron Newbauer and his players talked about the fight and pride that has been a staple of postgame press conferences and pre-practice soundbites all season long.
It has been a rough past couple of weeks for Florida’s women’s basketball team.
Just over a minute into the third quarter, South Carolina forward A’ja Wilson mirrored her teammates’ ball movement across the floor as she shuffled from one side of the paint to the other. Guard Doniyah Cliney received a pass and immediately spotted Wilson posting up just to the right of the lane. With a lob into Wilson, Florida forward Paulina Hersler abandoned her inside position to take a swipe at the ball.
With under a minute to go in the third quarter and the game well out of reach, Mississippi State’s Zion Campbell drove through the lane. Her layup went off the glass and through the bottom of the net, giving the Bulldogs a 36-point lead and doubling Florida’s total points in the process.
Delicia Washington plays like a cheetah on a sugar rush.
With slightly over seven minutes remaining in Monday night’s game, Florida held a one-point lead over No. 15 Missouri. However, when the last shot missed the rim and the contest went final, the Gators dropped their eighth SEC game of the season and their third straight conference game against a ranked opponent.
Down by two with 10 seconds remaining, Florida guard Funda Nakkasoglu circled to the right-side corner. She picked up her dribble after her defender stepped up. Five seconds left. Nakkasoglu made an outlet pass to teammate Delicia Washington, who instantly felt the presence of a Missouri player in her face. Three seconds left. Washington gave up the ball to forward Haley Lorenzen at the top of the key, who heaved a desperation three-pointer from well beyond the arc.
For Florida women’s basketball players Haley Lorenzen and Funda Nakkasoglu, there’s one phrase that comes to mind to describe the past week.
Before Paulina Hersler came to UF, the graduate transfer started only two games at UCLA and averaged under 11 minutes per game. Now, at a new program under a new head coach, the forward from Sweden has shined throughout the season, playing well in the paint and stretching the floor with her ability to shoot the ball from long range.
As the final seconds ticked away in the third quarter, Florida clung to a five-point lead. With Georgia dribbling out the clock for the final shot of the period, UF guard Funda Nakkasoglu and forward Haley Lorenzen double-teamed Georgia’s Que Morrison and forced a turnover. Nakkasoglu grabbed the loose ball, raced down the court and banked in a buzzer-beating layup.
It was sink or swim for the Florida women's basketball team as it hit the road to play against the second-ranked team in the nation on Thursday.
As senior forward Haley Lorenzen pulled down her final rebound Sunday afternoon against Ole Miss, there were no opponents around her. Her boxout created enough space to take one step to her right, elevate and bank home the eventual game-winning score with 27 seconds left on the clock.
Entering the fourth quarter down by 13, the Florida women’s basketball team was on the brink of another SEC loss on its home floor. But forward Haley Lorenzen had other ideas.
Solutions by The State News
