A year ago, Florida basketball player Tashia Morehead was leading Gulf Coast Community College to the National Junior College Athletic Association Championship.
She scored 46 points in the NJCAA title game and was named MVP of the tournament. This year she is playing a starring role on a much bigger stage - the NCAA tournament.
"This is a time when Tashia Morehead can shine," Florida head coach Carolyn Peck said.
Morehead is not the most highly touted player on the Gators - that honor belongs to center Vanessa Hayden - but she may have had the most shining performance for Florida in its 68-56 victory over UNM on Saturday night.
She scored Florida's first eight points and set the tone for the rest of the game. Coming into Saturday's game, Morehead was shooting 31.7 percent from 3-point range. Against UNM, she was 4-4 from behind the arc in the first half.
"Vanessa (Hayden) gave me a lot of confidence by telling me I needed to shoot, and I took that to heart," Morehead said. "I felt that rhythm, and I just kept on shooting."
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UNM head coach Don Flanagan said he did not expect Morehead to come out and play the way she did.
"I watched five tapes on Morehead," UNM head coach Don Flanagan said. "I've never seen her, in all those tapes, ever shoot like that."
With All-SEC center Vanessa Hayden sitting out the last 12-plus minutes of the first half in foul trouble, Morehead's play became essential. Hayden played only six minutes in the first, but Florida was still able to dominate with her on the bench, mostly due to Morehead's stellar performance.
Hayden's stay on the bench turned out to be beneficial for the Gators. She was able to stay out of foul trouble, get much needed rest in the high altitude and develop a second-half strategy from the bench.
"(Being in foul trouble) probably gave her an opportunity to sit down and watch the game and apply herself in a better way," Flanagan said.
Both Hayden and Peck said there were spots in UNM's defense that Hayden could exploit, and she observed that while sitting on the bench. In the second half, Hayden continually exposed the middle of the Lobos' defense as she scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half. She also added 10 rebounds. Hayden said at first she was not happy to be sitting on the bench.
"I was upset, but I got over it really quickly, and I became a cheerleader," Hayden said. "I wanted to win, and I knew being upset wouldn't help us win."
Conditioning was also a factor in Hayden's dominating second-half performance. Flanagan said Hayden looked tired and might have become more fatigued if she played more in the first half.
While Morehead was the x-factor for the Gators, Hayden showed why she will likely be a high pick in the upcoming WNBA draft. The 6-foot-4 center's 17 points and 10 rebounds are around her average. The mobile Hayden led the SEC in double-doubles and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
The Gators will again look for solid contributions from Morehead and Hayden as they try to advance to the Sweet 16 on Monday night against the Baylor Bears.
