Led by KK Deans’ 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, Florida made 13 shots from behind the arc to win at Clemson 73-63 on Thursday night and advance the the WNIT’s Great 8.
The Gators (19-14) connected on 13 of 30 from 3 (43.3%), which ties for the third-best performance by a Florida team in program history.
Deans accounted for a team-high 4 made 3s.
“We’ve been working really hard on sharing the ball,” coach Kelly Rae Finley said. “One of our goals was to really improve on both ends of the floor with the rebounds. I thought we did that. To the three-point shooting, we’ve been working hard on hitting the open player on time, every time by making the extra pass, and then moving to that extra pass to get the uncontested shot. That really paid off for us tonight.”
Leilani Correa (11 points), Alberte Rimdal (11), Faith Dut (10) and Nina Rickards (10) also scored in double figures for Florida.
Next, the Gators play Monday at Bowling Green at 6 p.m. in a regional final matchup.
Clemson (19-16) was held to 21-for-59 shooting (35.6%) and just 3-for-16 from deep (18.8%).
Florida broke open a closely contested game in the first half, opening the third quarter with a 7-2 run for a 43-37 lead.
It was a 22-10 edge in the third that set the tone for the rest of the game. The Gators led by as many as 18, and the Tigers weren’t able to get any closer than 9 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
