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If you weren't there ...
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The University of South Florida women's basketball team got 26 points and 12 rebounds from senior center Jessica Lawson, but that wouldn't be enough as the University of South Florida women's basketball team dropped a hard fought 61-54 loss to Florida in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament in Gainesville.
USF ends the season 15-16 and the Gators are 15-16 and advance to face Miami in the second round. KaNeisha Saunders and Tiffany Conner chipped in with sevem points apiece, and Melissa Dalembert grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss. Lawson's double-double was the 18th of the season and tops in the BIG EAST.
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2 |
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USF
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24 |
30 |
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54 |
| Florida |
32 |
29 |
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61 |
| Scoring Leaders |
| Player |
FG-A
|
3FG-A
|
FT-A
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TP
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| USF- Jessica Lawson |
10-16 |
0-0 |
6-8 |
26 |
| Florida- Steffi Sorenson |
5-12 |
3-10 |
3-7 |
16 |
| Rebounding Leaders |
| Player |
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| USF- Lawson |
7 |
5 |
12 |
| Florida- Smith |
2 |
4 |
6 |
| Misc. Leaders |
| Player |
Steals
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Assists
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Blocks
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| USF- Saunders |
3 |
5 |
0 |
| Florida- Sorenson |
3 |
4 |
1 |
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of South Florida women's basketball team came into its first round Women's National Invitation Tournament game with Florida on Thursday night looking to get the same result as it did five years ago when it met the Gators in the first round of the 2005 WNIT in Tampa - a win. In doing so, the Bulls also looked to extend their five-game WNIT winning streak from last season when they took the Tournament title with a win at Kansas.
Well, USF was not able to carry on its postseason fortune from last year to this year as Florida handed the Bulls a 61-54 loss at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Bulls finish the season at 15-16 while the Gators improve to 15-16.
The Gators jumped out on top early in the first half and never looked back. Florida hit six three-point shots in its first seven made shots to take a 20-6 lead on Steffi Sorensen's trey with 10:14 left in the half.
Azania Stewart would then give the Gators their biggest lead of the half, 22-6, on their next possession with 9:41 left.
USF would fight its way back into the contest to cut the Florida lead to eight, 24-16, on the second of two made free throws with 6:03 left in the first stanza.
The Gators would quickly get the edge back to 14, 32-18, using an 8-2 run capped off by a Sharielle Smith lay-up with 4:28 left on the clock.
The Bulls, however, would not close out the half quietly as they used their own 6-0 run to close the Florida lead to eight once again, 32-24, at the intermission.
USF would come out in the second half with reckless abandon and shooting much like Florida did to start the game. The Bulls would outscore the Gators 8-0 to tie the game at 32-all on a three-pointer by KaNeisha Saunders with 18:37 left.
Florida would not help themselves any by not getting on the board until almost three minutes into the half when Smith hit a trey with 17:04 left in the contest.
The Gators would start to heat back up after hitting just one of their first five shots in the first 4:15 of the second stanza. Florida would hit 50 percent (4-8) of its shots from the 15:46 mark to the 11:59 mark of the second half to take a nine-point edge, 45-36 on a lay-up by Stewart.
Florida would get is lead back to double figures, 11 points, on the next possession when Stewart hit two free throws to make the score 49-38 with 10:18 left.
The Bulls would then put together one final push going on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to three, 49-46, when Saunders hit a running jumper with 5:36 left in the contest. During that stretch from 10:18 to 5:36, Lawson would score four of USF's eight points.
The Gators, however, would prove to be too much as they pushed the lead back to double figures before coming away with the win.
Lawson finished her collegiate career leaving it all on the floor, finishing the game with a game high 26 points and game best 12 rebounds for her BIG EAST leading 18th double-double of the season.
Saunders and Conner would also add seven points apiece, while Dalembert grabbed 11 boards on the night.
USF HEAD COACH JOSE FERNANDEZ
On his team's loss against Florida ...
"It was a tough way to end the season. We talked to our kids about the fact that only two teams in the country finish with a win, the NCAA champion and the WNIT champion. Tonight, Jessica Lawson played her tail off in the last game of her career. I am very proud of the seniors. Lawson has already graduated and Melissa Dalembert and Allyson Speed are done at the end of the semester. Tonight we had four freshmen on the floor. These eight kids have battled a lot in the last few weeks."
On Florida's win against USF ...
"Amanda did a great job with her team tonight. She knew we would only play seven guys tonight. Florida pressed us from beginning to end. When we lost our point guard, Jasmine Wynne, three games into the BIG EAST season, we put the ball in Kaneisha's [Saunders] hands the whole time. With her playing 40 minutes, they threw a 2-2-1 at her, jumped her and made it difficult for the rest of the team to handle the basketball. We're just going to have to regroup and get ready for the off-season."
