#WBB Hangs Tough, but Falls 88-77 at Florida

Sunday, November 10

Gainesville, Fla.

2 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-2

Florida

2-0

North Florida

Florida

11/10/2013 4:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida women's basketball fell to Florida 88-77 in a hard-fought battle on Sunday afternoon at the O'Connell Center to wrap up season-opening weekend.

"I'm really pleased with how our team competed and battled today," said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. "We took a hard one on Friday, and I though we really came in here and met the challenge that we gave the kids to compete for 40 minutes. I'm really excited about the turnaround we made and the ability to compete against a team at the highest levels. That speaks pretty highly of us and the potential for what's going to happen when we get into conference."

UNF shot 45.2 percent from the floor, going 28-for-62.

Destinee Smith led a trio of Ospreys in double-digit scoring with 18 points. Chandler Merkerson and Paulina Zaveckaite scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. Merkerson also grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.

"Destinee is really coming into her own," said Tappmeyer. "She's a very confident offensive player. She wants to do a lot, but she also shares the ball. But Destinee has really stepped up. She stepped up at Miami. She stepped up here, and coming into her junior season, that's pretty exciting to see."

Florida was 30-for-64 from the floor and shot 46.9 percent for the game.

Five Gators had double-digit points with Jaterra Bonds leading the way with 25. Bonds also dished out nine assists. Meanwhile, Kayla Lewis tallied 16 points, nine rebounds and five steals.

UNF had to contend with a hot-shooting, long-range Florida team to begin the game. The Gators jumped out to a 20-5 lead at 15:56, getting 15 of their points from three-point range. Florida shot 75.0 percent (6-for-8) from beyond the arc at 14.53.

Florida went up by as many as 18 at 13:48 when a January Miller layup made it 25-7. UNF began to chip away at the Gators' lead and used a 13-4 run to come to within nine. A three-pointer from Bailey Florin at 9:33 made it 29-20. Florida responded with an 11-5 run to take a 15-point, 40-25 lead. UNF attempted to chip away at the Gators' lead and came to within nine once again with a Ki Conner layup at 2:41 making it 42-33. Florida got four quick points before Smith hit a jumper at 1:52 to make it 46-35, which was the score at halftime.

The Ospreys came out strong in the second half and cut the Gators' lead down to three twice. A trey from Conner at 14:30 made 55-52. January Miller's jumper at 13:45 gave Florida a five-point cushion, but Paulina Zaveckaite hit a pair of free throws to make it 57-54 with 13:39 to go.

However, that was the closest UNF could get as Florida used an 11-1 run to pull away. A pair of Bonds free throws sparked the run that resulted in the Gators going up 70-55 at 7:51. Although UNF came to within nine twice, Florida went up by as many as 16, holding an 82-66 lead at 2:13. UNF outscored the Gators 11-6 in the final 1:55 as Florida held on for the 11-point victory.

UNF has its home opener on Thursday morning when the Ospreys host Edward Waters for Elementary School Day at UNF Arena. Game time is set for 11 a.m.