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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>Guard Delicia Washington led the Gators in scoring with 16 points against Bethune-Cookman. She also finished with 10 rebounds and an assist.</p>

Guard Delicia Washington led the Gators in scoring with 16 points against Bethune-Cookman. She also finished with 10 rebounds and an assist.

Forward Zada Williams scored a career-high 16 points at the O’Connell Center to lead the Gators women’s basketball team to their third straight win, a 62-38 thrashing of Florida A&M.

The win gives the Gators (3-6) their first three-game win streak in over a year, and it didn’t come under easy circumstances. After leading the team to a victory over Texas Tech on Dec. 2, SEC leading scorer Funda Nakkasoglu has missed Florida’s last two games with an ankle injury.

Several Gators stepped up in her absence on Sunday. In addition to her 16 points, Williams also tallied nine rebounds. Guard Delicia Washington registered her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Ariel Johnson finished in double digits for the third straight game, this time scoring 13 points.

“Overall, it was just a nice team effort today,” Florida coach Cam Newbauer said in a release. “I thought we did a good job of taking care of what we needed to do today and get the win.”

Despite having their largest margin of victory in over a year, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Gators. After opening to a 23-9 lead, Florida faltered in the second quarter as FAMU went on a 14-4 run. UF led by just four points at the break.

The Gators, however, held the Rattlers to just two points in the third quarter and pulled away, outscoring FAMU 35-15 in the second half. The two points were the fewest the Gators have allowed in a quarter in over three years.

“It was nice having the adversity in the second half and having to overcome that, lock in and come out for the second half,” Newbauer said.

A big factor in Florida’s recent success has been its rebounding prowess. The team snagged 44 rebounds on Sunday and has now totaled 40 or more rebounds in three straight games.

The Gators will have a week off before facing arguably their toughest test yet, a trip to Columbus to take on Ohio State. A win would give Newbauer the longest win streak of his Florida career.

Follow Sam Campisano on Twitter @samcampisano and contact him at scampisano@alligator.org.

Guard Delicia Washington registered her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the Gators' win over FAMU.

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