ChompTalk.com

Despite tipping off less than twenty-four hours after dropping an away contest at Florida State, the UF women’s basketball team bounced back with a 67-52 victory over Charleston Southern in the friendly confines of Exactech Arena on Wednesday.

The Gators (2-1) started out sluggish, trailing 22-19 with 6:04 remaining in the second quarter. Florida then went on a 23-4 run before the half to pull away.

Florida added to their advantage in the third quarter, outscoring the Buccaneers 17-13 in the period. However, the Gators managed just eight points in the fourth quarter, but the twenty point lead was more than enough to overcome the sloppy finish.

Head coach Cameron Newbauer mentioned the inexperience of playing back to backs as a reason for some of the mistakes at the beginning and end of the game, “We had some good moments in spurts, but there were a lot of strange moments both offensively and defensively. That is just the inexperience of playing back to back games.”

Senior guard Kiki Smith led the way for Florida with 15 points while adding four rebounds and six steals. Sophomore guard Nina Rickards added 12 points and 7 boards to the effort. In all, ten Gators saw action and all ten left their mark in the scoring column.

Team Stats:

• FG% – 40% (25-63)
• 3FG% – 19% (5-26)
• FT% – 75% (12-16)
• Rebounds – 38
• O Rebounds – 15
• Reb +/- – +16
• Assists – 11
• Steals – 8
• Turnovers – 15

What’s Next:

Florida is two games into a five in nine day stretch. The Gators will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday afternoon at Exactech Arena. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 PM tip.

The Bearcats are 1-0 after an overtime thriller over Northern Kentucky on November 25. Cincinnati also had a home contest with Louisville scrapped due to a positive Covid-19 case in the UC program.