Florida Gators
Kent State (SF Classic Final)
Soph's Triple-Double Leads W-Hoops over Kent State
Sunday, December 30, 2001 | Women's Basketball
The University of Florida's Vanessa Hayden recorded just the second triple-double in school history Saturday, leading the Lady Gators (10-3) to a 73-47 win over Kent State (4-7) in the championship game of the 12th Annual State Farm Classic at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Hayden's 10 blocks breaks her own school record of nine, which she set on December 21 against Colorado. In addition to her 10 blocks, Hayden scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the triple double.
Former Lady Gator great DeLisha Milton recorded the program's only other triple-double when she scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and stole 10 passes on February 2, 1994.
"I'm awfully happy to be Lady Gator champs again. It's a great way to close out our preseason schedule," said Florida head coach Carol Ross. "I'm excited about going into the New Year and gearing up for some SEC play. There was some great individual play but I think the true story was the team's defensive effort, especially in the second half."
Kent State took an early 4-0 lead before a Hayden layup and a Courtney Cooper jumper tied the game at 4-4. After trading baskets with the Golden Flash, Florida's Monique Cardenas hit a layup to put the Gators ahead for the first time at 10-8. With the score 24-19 in favor of Florida, Kent State's Andrea Csaszar scored six straight points to give the Golden Flash a 25-24 lead. After a Hayden basket put Florida ahead 26-25, Csaszar scored again for a 27-26 Golden Flash lead.
Brandi McCain hit a three-pointer with 5:36 left in the first half to give Florida the lead for good. Over the final five and a half minutes of the first half, Florida went on a 10-4 run to close out the half leading 39-31.
Florida came out firing in the second half, going on a 16-0 run at the beginning of the second half to put the game out of reach. The Lady Gators connected on 15 of 32 while outscoring the Golden Flash 34-16. Kent State, which outshot the Lady Gators in the first half 55.6 percent to 52.9 percent, connected on just 4-of-32 (12.5%) attempts in the second half to finish with a 32.2 field goal percentage.
"I have to congratulate Florida on their win," said Kent State head coach Bob Lindsay. "They played great in the second half, which made all the difference. I am very happy with our effort; we just couldn't play to their caliber."
Cooper finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the first double-double of her career. McCain marked the sixth double-double of her career and her second this season with 12 points and 11 assists.
"Vanessa's definitely playing at a very high level," said Ross. "She has strung together two great games but has played well even further back than that. She can be very aggressive and is incredible even when being double teamed."
"I think I did very well tonight but it couldn't have been possible without my great teammates and coaches," said Hayden.
Csaszar led the Lady Flash in scoring with 16 points, followed by Valerie Zona with 10. Christi Shibata added 12 rebounds to lead Kent State.
In the consolation game of the tournament, Candace Futrell scored 27 points to lift Duquesne over Howard 89-70. Howard's Andrea Gardner led all scorers with 33 points, which is fifth in the all-time history of the State Farm/Lady Gator Classic. Duquesne's Beth Friday set a new tournament mark with 19 rebounds, eclipsing Tracy Wilson's record of 18 boards set in 1990.
Hayden was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, the 10th Lady Gator to receive the honor since the tournament's inception in 1990. The all-tournament team featured Florida's Cooper and McCain, Kent State's Csaszar and Howard's Andrea Gardner.
The Lady Gators are back in action on Thursday, Jan, 3, when they host the University of Tennessee at 6 p.m.
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