Bama Women's Basketball Falls at Florida, 76-69
1/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Despite shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and finishing with four players scoring in double figures, the Alabama women's basketball team could not stop the high-powered Florida Gators offense, falling 76-69 in Gainesville, Fla.
The loss dropped the Tide's record to 10-9 overall and 2-4 in conference play while Florida improves to 14-5 overall and 4-2 in the SEC, having won three straight conference games.
The Tide found itself in familiar territory early in the contest, trailing by as many as 10 points with 16:31 to play in the first half. The Gators were paced by Tashia Morehead, who scored 13 first half points, as Florida took a 40-30 advantage into the locker room at the half. But as he has done so many times this season, Alabama head coach Rick Moody rallied his troops for a second-half comeback.
"It was a very hard fought game and our kids played hard again," Moody said. "Our plan was to play inside and out on defense, and we did it well. They just shot the ball great from the perimeter."
The Tide trailed by a single point with 3:40 left in the second half before Florida closed the evening on a 9-3 run. Tishona Gregory nailed a three-point shot with just over 1:30 remaining to seal the win for the Gators, and send the Tide back home with their fourth consecutive conference defeat.
"We got it close again, but we just didn't make the plays we needed to," Moody said. "I am proud of how we played, but I am not proud of the outcome."
Monique Bivins paced the Tide with 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting. Katie Sipe shot a blistering 5 of 9 from beyond the arc, good for all of her 15 points. Kate Mastin and Dee Merriweather were the other two Bama players to score in double digits, with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Merriweather came up big on the boards, snatching eight rebounds.
The Gators were impressive from the perimeter, shooting 47 percent (9 of 19) from beyond the arc. Florida also connected on 15 of 21 free throw attempts for better than 71 percent. Alabama only converted 8 of their 16 attempts (50 percent) from the charity stripe.
Morehead lead all Gators in scoring with 19 points on 7 of 14 shooting from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range. Florida's Vanessa Hayden accumulated the most impressive statistics of the night: 14 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.
Amidst the loss were several bright spots for the Tide. In a vast improvement from last week's loss versus Mississippi State, the Tide took much better care of the basketball, committing only eight turnovers against the Gators. Last Sunday against the Bulldogs, Bama committed 17 turnovers in the first half alone.
Next up for the Tide is a trip to Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Feb. 1 to face the Lady Bulldogs. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 1:30 p.m. CST at the Stegeman Coliseum.
