AMES, Iowa — Their uniforms said "Florida," but their shooting ability said "made in Iceland." Of course, BYU's defense had a lot to do with the Lady Gators' ice-cold field-goal attempts — and we're talking Arctic blasts.
That constant clanging sound heard inside Hilton Coliseum on Saturday night was not the Florida band. It was the rim.
In the end, the sharpshooting Cougars cruised to a 90-52 first-round NCAA Tournament rout of the Lady Gators. It marked BYU's first NCAA Tournament victory in school history.
Florida shot 25 percent for the game, and that was an improvement on its 15 percent (5-for-33) shooting in the first half. The Lady Gators missed 21 of their first 24 shots as the Cougars sprinted to a 28-8 advantage 10 minutes into the contest. This one was over in a hurry.
"They came in without being scared," coach Jeff Judkins said of his players. "They played with a lot of confidence. That's what I preached to them all week."
BYU entered the game as the No. 11 seed and Florida No. 6. The NCAA selection committee must have gotten the seedings reversed.
"The (Southeastern Conference) might be a little overrated," said Cougar forward Melanie Pearson. "(Florida) thought they were just going to show up and win. They overlooked us."
Iowa State, BYU's second-round opponent, won't fall into that trap, however. The Cougars take on the third-seeded Cyclones — who defeated Temple, 72-57 — Monday night at 8:30 on ESPN2 on ISU's homecourt.
The Cyclone players and coaches watched part of BYU's demolition of Florida. They saw the Cougars reduce the Lady Gators' star center Vanessa Hayden to a non-factor. The 6-foot-4 sophomore, who averages 17 points and 12 rebounds per game, finished with four points, eight rebounds and five fouls. She went more than 23 minutes between her first basket and her second, which also happened to be her last.
"I'm surprised we held to her only four points," said Jennifer Leitner, who, along with Lisa Osguthorpe, draped themselves over Hayden nearly every time she touched the ball. "She has better post moves than (Mountain West Conference MVP Linda Frohlich). She's really athletic."
Hayden seemed flustered by the Cougars' aggressive defense. So, how much of Florida's shooting woes was a product of BYU's 'D'?
"I like to think all of it was us," said BYU guard Erin Thorn, who scored 28 points. "Instead of driving to the hoop, they started to settle for jump shots and that was to our advantage."
Only one Florida player had a good night — guard Brandi McCain, who made eight of her team's 18 field goals and scored 28 points.
Meanwhile, the Lady Gators never caught on to the Cougars' motion offense.
"BYU was a step ahead on every shot," said Florida coach Carol Ross. "They executed their offense with extreme precision. They had an answer for everything we did."
Thorn turned in another spectacular outing, abusing Florida's zone by knocking down 7-of-11 3-pointers. Leitner added 17 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. With 52 shots missed by the Lady Gators, the game was like a rebounding drill for her.
As bad as things were for Florida in the first half, they only got much, much worse, amazingly enough. The Lady Gators missed their first nine shots in the second half while the Cougars scored 11 straight points.
"BYU clearly had a better team," Ross said.
"We saw their weaknesses," Pearson said, "and we exploited them."
NOTES: BYU has now won seven straight games and 13 of its last 15 . . . The Cougars are 1-4 all-t ime in NCAA Tournament games . . . Because BYU doesn't practice on Sundays, the team is planning to attend church meetings and a fireside today in Ames . . . The 38-point margin of victory was the second-largest for BYU this season. The Cougars defeated Arkansas Pine Bluff, 90-50, in December.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com