GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Freshman Haley Lorenzen scored a team-high 14 points and a career-high tying eight rebounds, as she led the Florida women's basketball team (8-5) over the University of North Florida (7-6), 63-49, in UF's non-conference finale.
Lorenzen led a balanced Florida offensive attack that featured four Gators scoring in double-figures, including redshirt junior Cassie Peoples (12), freshman Brooke Copeland (11) and sophomore Ronni Williams (10).
Florida opened the scoring at the 19:49 mark of the first half on a Lorenzen turnaround jumper, but UNF responded quickly, as the first four-plus minutes of the game featured two ties and four lead changes.
The Ospreys grabbed a one-point lead (10-9) on a pair of Paulina Zaveckaite free throws with 16:33 left in the first half. The Gators answered emphatically with an 11-3 run capped off with a Copeland layup at the 12:07 mark.
The remainder of the half was back-and-forth and the Gators carried a 34-30 advantage into the locker room at intermission.
UF opened the second period on an 11-2 run capped off by a Dyandria Anderson free throw at the 12:37 mark. During that span, the Gators held the Ospreys to just 16.7% shooting from the field (1-of-6).
UNF was able to cut the Florida advantage to eight points (45-37) following a Brittany Wright jumper with 10:53 remaining in the contest, but that was as close as the Ospreys could get.
Florida grabbed 24 offensive rebounds and scored 25 second chance points off of those boards, which proved to be the defining factor in the contest.
The Gators launch their 2014 SEC slate playing host to LSU on Friday, January 2 at the O'Connell Center beginning at 7 p.m.