Florida head coach Kelly Rae Finley, left, talks to her players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Gators Women’s Basketball Lose Heartbreaker At Alabama

Miguel Molina March 1, 2024 Basketball, College Basketball, Gators Sports, Gators Women's Basketball, NCAA, SEC, University of Florida, Women's College Basketball 75 Views

No other way to put it, things were tough Thursday in Tuscaloosa for the Gators.

The Florida women’s basketball team lost their penultimate game 0f the regular season to Alabama, 76-73. The Gators drop to 14-13 on the season and 5-10 in the conference.

Bama (22-8, 9-6)was led by Sarah Ashlee Barker with 18 points and eight rebounds. Leilani Correa once again lit up the scoreboard for UF with 22 points.

Battle Of The Boards

In the first period, Aliyah Matharu got going from the jump with the first four points of the game. But Bama would answer with a 5-0 run.

Later on in the quarter, Barker and Correa would go head-to-head in scoring by both finishing the quarter with 10 points. Alabama shot well from beyond the arc, 4-7 (57.1%).

But what allowed the Crimson Tide to jump out to a six-point lead was their rebounding effort. Alabama out rebounded the Gators 9-5, leading to several second-chance opportunities. At the end of one, Florida was down 25-19.

Bama Piles On Gators

Shooting less than 30% on the road in the SEC, that is something you cannot do. Unfortunately, for the Gators, that was their fate in the second quarter.

Florida would start period two slow, shooting 1-5 at the 7:20 mark. This and a 0-4 scoring drought for three minutes allowed the Crimson Tide to extend the lead. However, Correa and Alberte Rimdal chipped away at the deficit, scoring a combined 10 of the Gators’ 11 points.

But Alabama’s starters continued to pile on points. Matharu’s single point was all the scoring the starting lineup could do in the quarter two. At the half, Bama was up 42-30.

Florida Tries to Chip Away

The Gators were in range for the lead, but they missed when it mattered most.

Florida cut the deficit to just two points behind a Matharu 3 at the 6:45 mark, but Barker answered with a clean post up layup and drawing a charge foul on the other end.

This sparked a 6-0 run by the Crimson Tide to extend it to 51-43. But back to back 3s by the Gators cut things back to four with just over 2:30 to go in the quarter.

But Florida went cold at the conclusion of the quarter, going scoreless in the final 2:55. This allowed Bama to bring the lead back to nine, 61-52, at the end of quarter three.

Nothing But Heartbreak

The beginning of the end would be written when Matharu fouled out with a tech at the nine-minute mark.

But Alabama’s poor fourth-quarter shooting (4-16) allowed Zippy Broughton to catch fire for UF, going 3-3 from beyond the arc to tie the game at 69-69 with 2:36 left.

Then a 1-9 field-goal skid by the Crimson Tide and a Rimdal mid range-jumper gave Florida a 71-70 lead. However, Barker was clutch down the stretch by making a contested layup to give Alabama the lead again, 74-71 with 0:44 remaining.

After several foul shots by both teams, Bama was up 76-73. With 12 seconds left, Rimdal got a buzzer-beater look and could not convert.

Up Next

The Gators will play in their final regular-season game Sunday when they host Auburn (17-10, 6-8) at noon.

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