Florida’s double-digit lead had been cut to two points by Ohio
State with just over a minute left in a first-round NCAA tournament game Sunday
at the Stroh Center.The Gators didn’t panic and Jaterra Bonds made 3-of-4 free
throws in the final 12 seconds to help seal Florida’s 70-65 victory over Ohio
State. The Gators, now 20-12 overall, face Baylor, 35-0, on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16. Baylor advanced with an 81-40 win
over UC Santa Barbara.Florida held a 10-point lead, 59-49, with 7:22 remaining.
Then missed shots and turnovers helped Ohio State get back into the game. PHOTO
GALLERYFlorida
had three straight turnovers with the third leading to a layup by OSU’s Tayler
Hill, cutting the Gators’ lead to 65-63 with 1:01 left. Florida then called a
time out.“The turnovers weren’t because of anything they had done defensively to
us. We just didn’t do a good job of making decisions with the ball,” Florida
head coach Amanda Butler said. “We just wanted to be calm, get our bearings.
‘Let’s not freak out. We got a lead. We’re in good position.’“At the end of the
huddle after giving all those instructions, I told all of them: ‘Look at me,
we’re going to win y’ all, we’ve got this,’ Butler continued. “Their looks back
were very confident and at moment I did have a little bit of a sigh of relief,
just because of the way they looked.”After the time out, the Gators went back
inside to Jennifer George and she hit a short left-handed hook with 45 seconds
left to push her team up 67-63.After an OSU miss, Florida won the scramble for
the loose ball and Jordan Jones was fouled.Jones missed a free throw with 17.8
seconds left, but teammate Azania Stewart grabbed the rebound.Bonds then made
both ends of a 1-and-1 to go up 69-63. OSU’s Amber Stokes banked in a shot with
6.7 seconds left, making it 69-65.Bonds sealed the win with two free throws with
5.3 seconds left.“The bottom line is that we were tough,” Jones said. “It didn’t
matter how close they got, we knew we had to answer, and a different person
stepped up each time.“We’ve been there before … 10 of our 12 losses were by six
points or less,” Jones added. “Looking up and seeing a close score isn’t going
to faze us.”Florida never trailed, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first two
minutes of the game. The Gators went on to take a 39-31 lead at the half.
Florida was helped in the first half by seven 3-pointers, a 24-18 rebounding
edge, including 11 at the offensive end, and nine OSU turnovers.“It started with
my turnover at the beginning of the game. We had too many unforced turnovers,”
said Hill, who was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points.Defensively, Florida
did a good job containing Samantha Prahalis, the Big Ten player of the year. She
finished with nine points, 11 below her average, and was held scoreless in the
second half.“Our team takes pride in that, and that’s a big part of their
personality is what happened on the defensive end,” Butler said.“She’s the kind
of player that needs a rhythm … and I don’t think she ever got comfortable
with it today,” said OSU head coach Jim Foster. “She was just in a little bit of
a hurry and when those first couple (of shots) don’t drop, you could see her
starting to press a little bit.”George led the Gators with 16 points, although
the Buckeyes make her work as she was 6-of-17 from the field.“She’s been the
most consistent factor in our halfcourt offense all year, so we wanted the ball
in her hands,” Butler said about going to George in the final minute.Foster had
not been happier earlier in the week that the Buckeyes were the No. 8 seed in
the region.When asked on Sunday if he felt ‘a little gypped be being here in
this situation and playing a first round game like that’ Foster answered
“No.”NOTES: One of the officials for the game was Denise Kantner, a former NBA
official, who is now the supervisor of officials for the WNBA … Florida scored
16 second-change points, 16 points off 13 Ohio State turnovers, and 19 points
for its bench … The attendance was announced at 4,195, short of the listed
capacity of 4,347.