Florida Women’s Basketball Dominates Missouri for First SEC Win
Florida women’s basketball earned its first SEC win of the season Sunday, defeating the Missouri Tigers 89-71 at the O’Connell Center.
The Gators snapped a five-game conference losing streak to improve to 13-8 overall and 1-5 in SEC play.
Florida opened the game on a 13-0 run and scored 22 of the first 24 points, overwhelming Missouri on both ends of the floor. The Gators led 26-8 after the first quarter and never gave the lead back.
Sophomore guard Liv McGill powered the early surge, scoring 13 points in the opening quarter alone. She finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, narrowly missing a triple-double. The performance marked her 22nd straight game scoring in double figures and her 12th 20-point game of the season. McGill moved into 25th place on Florida’s all-time scoring list with 1,056 career points.
“I thought Liv did a great job of staying disciplined in her reads,” Florida coach Kelly Rae Finley said.
Missouri coach Kellie Harper said McGill was “a handful,” adding that there is no game plan that can completely neutralize her.
McGill also had plenty of help.
Me’Arah O’Neal scored 17 points, her fourth consecutive double-figure game, while Laila Reynolds added 14. Graduate transfer Alexia Dizeko delivered a career-high 16 points off the bench, including seven straight points in the third quarter.
Florida’s four top scorers accounted for more points than Missouri’s entire team.
The Tigers relied heavily on junior guards Grace Slaughter and Shannon Dowell. Slaughter finished with 29 points and Dowell added 23, combining for 52 of Missouri’s 71 points. No other Tiger reached double figures.
Florida’s efficiency on offense and their bench production helped make the difference.
The Gators shot 53.1 percent from the field and knocked down a season-high 10 three-pointers at a 40 percent rate. Florida also controlled the interior, outrebounding Missouri 39-27 and outscoring the Tigers 38-22 in the paint. Additionally, Florida got 28 points from its bench compared to six for Missouri.
The Tigers entered the game ranked sixth nationally in three-point percentage but finished just 8-for-25 from beyond the arc.
“I think today you guys were able to see us play Gator basketball,” Finley said. “Once we feel the feeling, we’re not going to look back.”
Florida will return to action on Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. with a road matchup at LSU.
Category: College Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Women's Basketball, SEC
