Florida men's basketball coach Mike White knew his team was lacking in offensive confidence before its Christmas break.
Coach Cameron Newbauer was nearly at a loss for words to describe his team’s nine-point defeat against Alabama on Thursday.
Three games into conference play, the Florida men’s basketball team’s identity is beginning to take shape.
After receiving an inbound pass at the top of the key, Florida forward Paulina Hersler pulled up with five seconds left in the fourth quarter. Down by two, Hersler missed a shot to the right of the rim, but guard Dyandria Anderson pulled down an offensive rebound and scored a layup with less than one second remaining to send the game to overtime.
Chris Chiozza saw it coming the whole way.
Florida forward Haley Lorenzen called for the ball with just over five minutes left in the game. After setting a screen for a streaking teammate, Lorenzen posted up Alabama’s Ashley Williams, boxing her out beneath the basket before snatching an inlet pass from teammate Delicia Washington with both hands. She raised up for the layup, was fouled by Williams and ultimately landed a pair of late free throws to go up by two.
Florida center Kevarrius Hayes threw down an emphatic putback slam after guard Egor Koulechov botched a layup attempt, sending the Gators’ bench to its feet and disappointed Aggies fans out of Reed Arena.
With under four minutes left in the second quarter, Florida guard Funda Nakkasoglu was sent to the charity stripe for a pair of free throws. After Nakkasoglu buried one of her two attempts, the Gators slowly watched their eight-point lead slip away at the end of the half and went into the break ahead by one.
With the Gators leading by four points with 43 seconds left in the game, Florida guard Chris Chiozza drove past Vanderbilt forward Clevon Brown from the top of the three-point line and converted a contested layup to seal the victory for UF.
With the final seconds winding down and the game well in hand, Florida guard Tameria Johnson ran down a Delaware State fast break attempt and poked the ball away. As she took it across half court, coach Cameron Newbauer signaled his offense to run one more play. But Johnson, looking over to her bench, lost the handle and was called for a backcourt violation. The freshman laughed it off, shook her head and jogged back for the final defensive possession of the afternoon.
Chris Chiozza stripped the ball from Incarnate Word guard Keaton Hervey, spun to his left and fired a pass to teammate KeVaughn Allen.
With two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, Florida guard Paulina Hersler received a pass at the top of the key. She stepped back, jumped up and drained the three-pointer, giving the Gators a 24-point advantage, their largest lead of the contest.
Chris Chiozza stole the ball from a James Madison guard late in the first half, sprinted down the court and scored an uncontested layup.
Dyandria Anderson hadn’t scored all game. Undeterred, the Florida guard drove down the right side of the court. With the Gators down by three and just under five minutes remaining in the contest, Anderson lurched hard into a trailing defender and drained a layup while drawing a foul. She then swished the free throw and tied the game up at 55 apiece.
As a three-point jumper from Florida guard KeVaughn Allen clanked off the side of the rim, Clemson forward Elijah Thomas started sprinting down the court.
With less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Florida guard Dyandria Anderson stopped her dribble and launched a cross court pass to teammate Funda Nakkasoglu. Nakkasoglu caught the ball, launched a three from the corner of the court and watched it fall through the bottom of the net.
Chris Chiozza signaled for his teammates to move away from the right side of the court with the game tied at 60.
Trailing by two with less than a minute remaining in the game, KeVaughn Allen drove down the court. The junior guard galloped to the right side of the lane, throwing up a layup that was tightly contested by a Loyola-Chicago defender.
Halfway through the third quarter, Florida’s women’s basketball team felt momentum shifting in its favor.
Mike White sat silently in front of reporters Monday night, ruminating in disappointment.
Solutions by The State News
