Florida shocks Demon Deacons, advances to WNIT Super 16

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Nina Rickards led the impressive efforts of Florida women’s basketball on Saturday evening, helping the Gators to an 80-63 victory over Wake Forest in the second round of the WNIT.

Rickards put together an impressive 25-point performance to lead the Gators (18-14), marking a new career-best for the senior to go along with four rebounds. Jordyn Merritt recorded 15 points with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. KK Deans finished with his second career double-double, scoring 13 points and 10 assists.

For the game, Florida finished 27-of-56 (48.2%) from the floor and 12-of-25 (48.0%) from long range while holding Wake Forest (17-17) to 21-of-63 ( 33.3%). from the field and 9-of-25 (36%) from deep. The Gators assisted on 18 of 21 makes, led by Deans’ 10.

The Gators controlled the glass in Winston-Salem, finishing with a 38-37 edge over the Demon Deacons. In addition to Merritt’s eight boards, Jeriah Warren pulled down seven and Faith Dut collected six of her own.

Defensively, UF forced Wake into 15 turnovers resulting in 10 steals, led by Warren’s four, leading to a 19-8 advantage in points-off-turnovers and an 11-7 edge in fast break points.

Jewel Spear led Wake Forest with 25 points and five rebounds.

Florida didn’t waste any time taking control of the game, opening with a 7-0 run, including the first five from Warren, while holding the Demon Deacons scoreless for the first 4:11 of the contest. Wake Forest answered with the next six points before a pull-up jumper from Rickards at the 3:18 mark ended the spurt. The offensive struggles continued until the end of the opener for the Gators, finishing just 1-of-7 in the first quarter as Wake took a 15-11 advantage in the second stanza.

Rickards helped take the lead off a bucket to start the second, knocking down a three from the left wing to pull the Gators within one. The first lead of the second quarter came two minutes later when Deans found Alberte Rimdal on the same spot on a fast break, making it 17-14, before knocking down a long-range shot with 5:58 on the clock.

After the Orange & Blue scored the opening nine points of the second quarter, Olivia Summiel converted a corner three to stop WFU’s bleeding with 5:45 left in the half. Florida’s three-point barrage didn’t stop, Rimdal and Merritt converted 3-pointers to make it 28-18 at the end of the period. Summiel answered with two more from the range to make it a four-point game, but the last five points of the half would go the Gators’ way to make it 33-24 at the break. All nine made field goals between the two teams in the second quarter came from behind the three-point line.

Exchanging buckets for the first five minutes of the second half, Florida got the energy it needed after Deans sliced ​​through the lane for a tough finish and drew a foul to extend the Gators’ lead to 12, 46-34. The Demon Deacons would not lose, however, reeling off eight straight points, all from the Spear, to make it 46-42 with 1:49 showing on the clock. Needing a bucket, Rickards rose to the occasion and hit three straight to re-establish the seven-point edge before converting a contested lay-in to make it 51-42 with 10 minutes remaining.

In fitting fashion, Rickards immediately pushed Florida’s lead to double figures to start the final frame, marking the last time the Demon Deacons will be in single digits from the Gators as Florida sprinted away from Wake Forest for a dominant 80-63 victory.

Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley

As we advance to the third round of the WNIT…

“We’ve been working. That’s all I can say. This team is determined and I’m very happy with the way they invested time, and the choices they made in the last two weeks. week and when many teams could have made different choices or didn’t want to play, that’s that’s not the group we have. They’re competitors and they love to play, so tonight was a great game. .”

In an impressive shooting performance…

“I thought they encouraged each other, you could see a little swagger, a little confidence in each other. KK would pass the ball and he would be all, ‘knock down,’ before the shot even going. ing. Anytime you have someone who gives confidence in you, that’s good.”

Noted

• Florida now holds a 2-1 all-time advantage against Wake Forest.
• The Gators improved to 17-8 in the WNIT all-time, including a 5-2 mark in the second round of the tournament.
• Florida will make its first appearance in the Super Sixteen of the WNIT since 2013.
• It was Florida’s best showing in the WNIT since the semifinals in 2013.
• Nina Rickards set a new career high with 25 points on Monday.
• Rickards’ 10 field goals were a career best.
• KK Deans recorded his career double with 13 points and 10 assists.
• The 10 assists by Deans are the most since Delicia Washington recorded 10 assists against Savannah State on November 23, 2017.
• Deans alone is 11 for the most three-pointers made in a single season by the Gators, having 70 this season.
• Florida held its opponent under 65 points for the 11th time this season.

Until Next Time

The Gators will meet the winner of Auburn and Clemson in the Super 16 of the WNIT. Game location and time details will be released late Monday or early Tuesday morning.