Florida Women’s Basketball Looks to Stay Unbeaten

The Gators welcome the Samford Bulldogs (1-1) with a chance to start the women’s basketball season 4-0 for the sixth time in program history. Tipoff is set for 7 tonight at the O’Connell Center.

Florida is coming off a 100-55 win against Jacksonville and was led by sophomore forward Me’Arah O’Neal’s 20-point and 11-rebound double-double.  Samford, on the other hand, lost 80-46 at Nebraska on Saturday, when the Bulldogs shot 33.3% from the field on 51 attempts.  

The teams have faced each other twice ahead of tonight’s contest. The Gators came out on top both times, including an 84-48 win in the 2019-20 season.

Leading Florida is sophomore guard Liv McGill. Through three games, she is averaging 27.7 points, 7.3 assists, six rebounds and five steals per game. These numbers earned her the U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week and SEC Player of the Week awards.

Behind McGill, O’Neal has three double-doubles in as many games, averaging 16 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.67 blocks per contest. 

The Gators have to keep an eye on Samford’s Emily Snoddy, who was named to the Southern Conference All-Defensive Team last season and was a member of the Preseason All-Southern Conference Team before the 2025-26 campaign

Samford coach Matt Wise returns to Gainesville, where he was a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team during two of the Gators’ back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in the early 2010s. His mother, Mary, was the coach of the Gators’ volleyball team for 34 seasons.

A win and Florida would move to 19-2 at home in November under coach Kelly Rae Finley.

Category: College Basketball, Gator Sports, Gators Women's Basketball