College basketball

Ole Miss, Ross get win over Florida

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published January 24, 2005

GAINESVILLE - Carol Ross wasn't sure what to expect when she returned to the O'Connell Center for the first time Sunday, but she knew exactly what she wanted: A chance to relive a few memories of her 12 years as the Florida women's coach and leave with a Mississippi victory.

She got both.

Florida fans, an announced 1,503, greeted Ross with hugs and a rousing ovation, then watched as the Rebels held off a strong Florida comeback attempt in their 82-70 victory. It was the first SEC road win of the season for Ole Miss and foiled Florida's bid for the program's 500th win.

Ross said she wasn't sure how the Rebels would handle her emotional return, but afterward said everything was fine.

"I told them don't get caught up in the Gator thing," she said. "I created that chaos and they didn't need to wear that burden. I thought they responded well."

For a while, it looked all set up to become the second biggest comeback in Gator women's history after they fell behind by 19 in the first half.

Trailing 27-10, Florida came out of a timeout with just under eight minutes remaining and outscored Mississippi 14-3 over the next four minutes, a run aided by nine points from senior guard Tamia Williams, including back-to-back 3-pointers to start the run.

By halftime, the Gators trailed 36-29, despite shooting 32.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range.

Florida (12-6, 3-2) opened the second half with two field goals and 3 of 4 free throws to pull within 38-36. When senior Tashia Morehead hit a 3-pointer with 17 minutes remaining, the Gators had a one-point lead, their first since 16:07 in the first half.

After Florida took a 41-38 lead, the teams exchanged leads and had three ties over the next three minutes.

But shortly after the Rebels (13-5, 3-2) tied it at 45 on two free throws with 13:42 left, their guards, Ashley Awkward and Carletta Brown, took over. Awkward scored 13, including three 3-pointers, and Brown scored 11 during a 23-4 run. Brown, a 5-foot-4 senior, led all scorers with 22, and added three assists. Awkward scored 17.

"You expect guards to take over at some point in the game," Ross said. "Carletta Brown is our little engine on offense and she really makes us play. As she plays, we play. We feed off her. ... They were really the difference, our backcourt."

Coach Carolyn Peck said she was disappointed the Gators were outrebounded 58-37.

"We played pretty decent defense for the most part, but allowing a team to get 24 second-chance opportunities will make for a long night," she said. "That's an area that, for the most part, we had done a better job. We're a better boxout team than we demonstrated and Ole Miss took advantage of that."

Guard Sarah Lowe came off the bench and led all Gators with 18 points. Forward Bernice Mosby had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Williams added 12 points.

[Last modified January 24, 2005, 01:32:09]