Florida rode a torrid first half shooting performance to a 77-55 victory over Florida A&M in a women’s college basketball game at the Stephen O’Connell Center Friday night.
The win was the 10th straight for homestanding Florida (10-1), while FAMU (4-3) dropped their third straight road game.
The Gators shot 60 percent (18 of 30) from the floor and went 5 of 10 from 3-point range in the opening stanza, while FAMU hit just 29.6 percent (8 of 27) from the floor, breaking open what was a relatively tight contest near the midpoint of the period.
Florida led 16-11 with 11:30 left in the half, then closed out the period with a 30-12 run led by the trio of Marshae Dotson, Jennifer Mossor and Lonnika Thompson who each had seven points in the first 20 minutes.
Sha Brooks got the Gators rolling with a pair of three pointers in the first half, which helped push their lead to double digits.
In the second half, both clubs shot in the 30 percent range, as FAMU outscored the Gators, 32-31.
Stephanie Foster led FAMU’s second half charge with 16 points, followed by fellow senior Deidra Jones, who added 10 points in the final period.
Foster led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Jones with 15 points. Jones also led FAMU with seven rebounds Friday.
Florida had 12 players score on Friday, led by Sha Brooks with 12 points and Sharielle Smith with 11 points. Smith shared team high rebounding honors with Steffi Sorensen as each player pulled down seven boards.
WHAT’S NEXT: FAMU will return to action next Wednesday, Dec. 17, when they take on the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in an 11:30 a.m. Central time game, before returning home for a Gaither Gym bout against the University of Pittsburgh next Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.