KK Deans put together one of her best games for Florida, which withstood a 3-point assault from Alabama to win 81-77 on Thursday night at O’Connell Center.
Deans had 22 points on Senior Night, making 4 of 5 from 3-point range to lead the Gators (15-13, 4-11 SEC). Ra Shaya Kyle added 14 points, Leilani Correa 12 and Nina Rickards 11.
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The Crimson Tide shot 12-for-18 from 3 for 66.7%, including 10 of 12 in the second half.
Brittany Davis led Alabama (20-8, 9-6) with 16 points and 8 rebounds, but the Gators forced the visitors into 20 turnovers.
“It was a great team win with great team effort and great team defense. That’s what Gators basketball is,” Deans said. “We haven’t seen it in a while, but game after game it got better and better. Once we hit South Carolina to the games after, we locked in. If we lock in for the rest of the season, good things happen.”
UF broke open a close contest by going on a 12-1 run to take a 24-13 lead into the second quarter as Alabama only attempted 8 shots and turned it over 5 times in the first 10 minutes.
Then the Tide got hot. A 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 54-50 with 49 seconds left in the third and an 11-2 spurt tied the score at 75 in the fourth with 2:26 left.
“They lead the league in 3-point shooting percentage and they’re 12th in the country. They shot the lights out of that ball in the third and fourth quarter,” Gators coach Kelly Rae Finley said. “Eighty percent and 85.7% in the second half? That’s crazy, but we were determined.
“We focused a lot on having our hands up and our active feet and really just trusting that we’re fast enough to be in two places almost simultaneously. When we start to trust each other and trust our foot speed, we’re a very good defensive team.”
The Gators will conclude the regular season on Sunday at Missouri.
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