Carlie Needles Hits Nine 3s To Propel Gator Women’s Hoops Past UNF

Redshirt freshman Carlie Needles was repping the Sunshine State on Monday night after making it rain from beyond the arc, powering the Florida women’s basketball team (3-1) to a 74-44 rout of North Florida (0-4) Monday night in Gainesville.

Needles’ nine 3 point shots and 27 points carried the Gators to their third straight win at home. Gator head coach Amanda Butler thought this was a huge comeback for her team after a loss to FSU last Thursday.

Needles was 9-for-17 on the night, all of them from the three-point line. Her nine treys in a game ties for second in Southeastern Conference history and sets a new program record. Needles is able to still stay modest about her performance.

Though Needles owned the stats sheet, freshman star Sydney Moss was the best all around player in the game.  She led the team in both assists and rebounds with seven each, whils scoring eight points.  Butler says she liked what she saw out of her, but Moss might not say the same.

In the game, eight of nine Gator players grabbed a rebound, eight of nine players dished out an assist and all players that dressed tallied points on the scoreboard Monday night. Butler knows this style of play is what her team is based on–spreading the ball around.

Freshman Chandler Cooper was held out of the game because of a strained left foot arch. Butler says that Cooper sitting out the game was a precaution.

The Gators will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada Thanksgiving weekend to compete in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, where they will be playing North Carolina State, Northern Iowa and Arizona State in back-to-back-to-back games starting Friday.