Florida coach Kelly Rae Finley talks to guard Liv McGill (23) during the second half of an NCAA women’s basketball game at the O'Connell Center on Nov. 3, 2025. — The Gators have only won two consecutive conference games twice in the last three years. (Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun)

Florida Women’s Basketball Looks to Continue Momentum vs. Arkansas

Florida women’s basketball is aiming to stay hot against another SEC foe: Arkansas.

Coming off a strong win against Auburn on Thursday night, the Gators are in the O’Dome once again, where they will host Arkansas (11-13, 0-9 SEC) on Sunday. Florida (14-11, 2-8) has struggled in conference play, having faced three top-10 opponents in a row, before it grabbed a crucial victory against the Tigers.

This game was crucial as the Gators have just under four weeks until the SEC tournament. Florida started slow, but it was its second-half defensive pressure that held the Tigers to only 27 points in the third and fourth quarters, sealing the game.

Me’Arah O’Neal claimed her seventh double-double of the season, and junior guard Laila Reynolds had a team-high 17 points. Both expect to be primary contributors against Arkansas, as well as Liv McGill, who remains the team’s leading scorer, averaging 22.1 points per game.

The Gators likely hope to repeat much of the game plan they used against Auburn, spreading the offensive wealth between those scorers and leaning on their defense.

“I thought it was one of our better games in terms of guarding one-on-one, keeping people in front, communicating — especially in the second half,” UF coach Kelly Rae Finley said in her opening statement. “It was a gritty team win and that’s what you get in this league every night.”

Arkansas is in a massive rut, having lost, check this, its last 10 games. It has not won a single SEC game this year and is coming off an 87-82 home loss against Missouri. As the team’s leading scorer this season, senior guard Taleyah Jones led the Razorbacks yet again with 24 points against the Tigers. Even despite the loss, this was one of the Razorbacks’ best SEC performances thus far — their highest-scoring of conference play, at least.

This is Florida and Arkansas’ first meeting this year. With only about a month remaining in the regular season, Florida needs to capitalize on momentum as it faces an easier schedule in comparison to its last couple of weeks. Backed by home-court advantage, the Gators aim to hold Arkansas winless in SEC play when they take the court on Sunday at noon.

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