By Kevin Erpenbeck

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Life without starting point guard Janee Thompson began for UK Hoops against Florida Thursday night, and it proved to be quite the difficult one.

The Gators battled with the Cats all night as both teams exchanged the lead 17 times in the game. UK was even down by seven points during the first half.

But the Cats made enough plays in the final minutes to pull away from Florida 62-56 for their fourth SEC win of the year.

“I felt like tonight was going to be real difficult without Janee there,” said head coach Matthew Mitchell. “We did not play well at all times and Florida had a lot to do with that. They played us tough defensively and made us make a lot of decisions that didn’t turn out too great at times. But we finally settled in and played some good defense (in the second half); really battled and found a way to win.”

Thompson, who suffered a season-ending leg injury in Columbia, S.C. against the Gamecocks on Sunday, came out onto the court in crutches and sat behind UK’s bench before Thursday’s game began. The players wore blue shirts with the words “Our B3st” on the front during the pregame shoot-around, honoring the injured teammate who dons the #3 jersey.

Mitchell said that the team will continue to wear the shirts for the remainder of the season.

The Cats struggled with Florida’s defense in the first half as they were held to 37 percent from the floor and scoreless beyond the arc. UK’s season leading scorer, senior guard Jennifer O’Neill, didn’t register a point before halftime in her four shot attempts.

But sophomore guard Linnae Harper kept the Cats in the game early on, said Mitchell, as she recorded three steals and 10 points in the first half.

“Harper’s defense really kept us in there when we were trying to wrestle the lead away from Florida,” Mitchell said. “She’ll be important to us down the road. Last year, she couldn’t defend when she was on the floor. Now she’s out there the whole game and is on a torrid pace with steals. We needed it.”

Harper, who finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and six steals on the night, said she knew she had to step up in Thompson’s absence, as did the rest of the team. She added that Thompson has been an inspiration to her personally, since they grew in Chicago together and attended the same high school.

“She’s my motivation to work harder in practice, do the little things and getting in the gym extra,” Harper said. “I think about her every day, and it’s all about playing for her now. That’s going to be contagious to the rest of the team.”

But it was the other sophomore guard, Makayla Epps, who played the starring role in the game. Before Thursday, Mitchell mentioned how Epps would need to move over to the point guard position if the Cats were to have any hope of duplicating Thompson’s production. Epps responded mightily, scoring a team-leading 20 points, including six crucial free throws in the last two minutes of the game to keep Florida at bay.

“We wouldn’t have won the game without her” Mitchell said of Epps. “But she needs to continue to get reps. She’ll be tough and really improve at that position down the road. But I was really proud of her performance today.”

Epps added that she too thought of Thompson while she was on the court, and will continue to think of what Thompson would tell her about being the new starting point guard of the team.

“It’s weird not having her out there and in the condition she’s in, But I’m just trying to follow in her footsteps and make her proud,” Epps said. “I’m just trying to play like Janee.”

UK will return to action on Sunday when it plays LSU at Baton Rouge, La.