The Lady Dogs lost just 13 turnovers, the fewest in the last 10 games.
It also didn't hurt that Tasha Humphrey scored a season-high 32 as Georgia defeated Florida 85-66 Thursday.
Christy Marshall, who came off the bench with 16 points for Georgia, credited the smoother performance to a calmer approach.
``The past couple of practices, Coach has told us that we need to calm down, not make mistakes and just play,'' said Marshall. ``That really helped us with the momentum of the game.''
Landers said that Marshall's comments are a testament to how difficult it has been to get through to his players this year, since he gave them the same instructions previously.
``I have done that a couple of times in practice,'' he said. ``It just proves yet again that they don't always listen. I've told them to play quick, but to not play in a hurry.''
The 32 points by Humphrey moved her into fourth place on the career scoring list with 2,164, 32 more than Coco Miller, with whom she was tied when the night started. Humphrey grabbed 11 rebounds to give her 1,003 for her career, also fourth best in school history.
``She gave us a lot of momentum,'' said Marshall. ``When our stars do things out of the ordinary, we want to play.''
``Tasha had her way tonight,'' said Florida coach Amanda Butler. ``She played phenomenal. Christy Marshall played exceptionally well and scored in a variety of ways. We got our butts kicked in the paint and turned the ball over way too many times.''
Freshman Angela Puleo also scored a career high 18 points for Georgia (18-7, 5-5 Southeastern Conference).
Reserve Sharielle Smith led Florida (15-10, 4-6 SEC) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sha Brooks and Depree Bowden scored 12 apiece.
Georgia took a quick 10-2 lead and built it to double digits when Angel Robinson's steal and layup gave the Lady Dogs a 22-12 lead with 10:52 remaining in the first half.
But the Gators rallied with an 11-2 run, capped by five straight points by Brooks to trim the lead to 24-23 with 7:48 to go in the half.
Georgia outpointed Florida 24-8 the remainder of the first half, ignited by an 11-2 run highlighted by Humphrey's 3-pointer and short jumper.
Florida got as close as 10 points in the second half when Brittaney Thomas converted a spin move to make it 55-45 with 13:34 to play. But six straight points by the Lady Dogs put the game out of reach.
``We subbed and got stagnant,'' said Landers of Florida's rally. ``We are in a league where you pay for your mistakes. I'd like to leave our subs out there, but when the risk is greater than the reward you have to change right away.''
``We did a poor job with our transition defense,'' said Butler. ``When we left people open, they found the open person and hit shots. We didn't have a counter to that. We just didn't adjust.''
Marshall's effort off the bench, however, was a tonic the team needed.
``That was big time,'' said Landers. ``We need it badly. We have needed it all year. She is the one who has to make it happen.''
Georgia wore pink as part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's breast-cancer awareness campaign.
Tasha Humphrey (file photo)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/206981