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Alabama Women’s Basketball Beats Florida, 63-54, for First Win in Gainesville Since 2010
1/4/2018 8:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Crimson Tide finished the game on an 11-0 run
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Alabama women's basketball team used timely buckets down the stretch to take down Florida in Gainesville for the first time since 2010, 63-54, Thursday night in Exactech Arena.
"We had great toughness tonight," said head coach Kristy Curry. "You have to rebound, and we outrebounded them by nine, and you have to take care of the ball on the road, those two things are in our control. We only had 12 (turnovers), the goal is always 13 or less, and nine people on the roster scored, so there's a lot of reasons for the win tonight."
The Crimson Tide (11-4, 1-1 SEC) outscored the Gators (8-7, 0-2 SEC) 32-14 in the paint to earn its first Southeastern Conference win of the season.
The Gators took the 54-52 lead with 5:21 left in the game, before the Tide held UF scoreless for the remainder of the game, while rattling off 11-straight points to earn the victory.
Senior Ashley Williams led the way with 12 points and five rebounds, while senior Hannah Cook finished with 11 points and junior Shaquera Wade came up with big baskets in the fourth quarter, ending the contest with nine points and five boards.
The Tide controlled the first half from the opening tip, after taking the 6-4 lead with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter UA never surrendered the advantage at the end of 20 minutes, taking the 31-26 edge into halftime. At the break, Alabama had nine different players in the scoring column, to go along with 44 percent shooting from the floor.
In the second half, UA continued to hold the lead, going up by as many as 10 in the third quarter before UF cut the deficit down to 48-42 heading into the final quarter.
The two teams battled back-and-forth for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, when Williams hit two shots within two minutes of each other to break the 54-54 tie, and give the Tide the four-point advantage with 2:42 remaining. Sophomore Jordan Lewis pushed the UA lead to six with a driving layup on the right side with 1:48 left in the game. Three free throws in the final minute of the contest prevented the Gators from getting back into the game.
The Crimson Tide outrebounded the Gators 44-35, while the UA bench outscored the UF reserves 20-2.
The Tide will return to action on the road against Arkansas on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 3 p.m. CT in Fayetteville, Ark. The game will air live on the SEC Network.
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