It took three games for the Florida Gators women’s basketball team to find their footing in conference play. And on Sunday afternoon, everything finally fell into place for the Gators.
Florida came away with a 78-69 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs to secure their first SEC win of the 2023-24 season. The Gators led by as many as 22 points early in the afternoon, but they staved off a last-second comeback attempt from the Bulldogs en route to one of their more memorable finishes this year.
“This team gives their best effort every single day, and I’ve been very proud of them,” Florida head coach Kelly Rae Finley said. “But sometimes, you have got to make the breaks go your way, and it felt like that’s what we did.”
Senior guard Leilani Correa had her fingerprints all over Sunday’s win for the Gators. She secured her third 20-plus point performance in her last four outings, finishing with a season-high 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Correa also came away with a team-high four steals.
Fellow senior guard Aliyah Matharu also fared well against the Bulldogs, tallying 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. With standout center Ra Shaya Kyle missing her second consecutive game due to a knee injury, senior forward Faith Dut fared well in her absence. Dut finished the day with nine points, four rebounds and two blocks.
Junior guard Asia Avinger and senior guard Taniyah Thompson combined for 38 points to keep Georgia within striking distance on Sunday. Ultimately, Georgia’s 20 turnovers sank any hope for a Bulldogs comeback.
Florida immediately came out of the gates with a strong start. The Gators forced seven Bulldogs turnovers in the first six minutes of play to jump out to an early 12-4 lead. Georgia eventually slowed down their pacing and cut back on their offensive miscues, but Florida kept rolling offensively. The Gators’ dominating physicality kept the Bulldogs in check for the rest of the quarter.
With less than three minutes to play in the first quarter, Correa sliced past the Georgia defense for a physical and-1 layup. On Florida’s next possession, freshman guard Laila Reynolds absorbed a hard hit in the paint and subsequently went 1-for-2 at the line. The Bulldogs snagged the rebound on the missed free throw and hauled the ball down the court.
But as Avinger drove in for the fastbreak layup, Dut met her at the rim and sent her shot into the stands. With all the momentum now on their side, Florida remained in control for the rest of the quarter, leading 19-9 going into the second.
The Bulldogs began to show fight early in the second quarter, leading off the period with an 8-5 run. Not to be outdone, Florida came right back with a fastbreak jumper from Matharu and a 3 ball from Correa on back-to-back possessions.
Correa kept the Gators in the driver’s seat for the rest of the first half. By the end of the second quarter, she had recorded 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and three steals. Correa’s fiery first half performance was pivotal in powering Florida to a 38-26 lead by the halftime break.
UF picked up right where they left off in the second half. Matharu set the tone early on in the third quarter with an immediate deep 3-pointer to kick things off. From there, the Gators could not be stopped.
Junior guard Alberte Rimdal knocked down a mid-range jumper, while Matharu and Dut powered through the paint for a pair of layups. Correa chipped in with another and-1 and a 3-pointer of her own to extend the lead to 54-34.
“I think I play my best basketball when I’m constantly moving around,” Correa said. “It’s really hard to guard that. My teammates know where I am on the floor, they know where I score best on the floor, they know where to get me the ball, so all credit to them for doing that.”
Even as they faced a 20-point deficit, the Bulldogs refused to give in. They responded with a 9-4 run late in the third quarter, which Thompson capped off with an and-1 fastbreak layup. However, she subsequently missed the free throw, and Matharu capitalized with another 3-pointer on the other end of the court. By the end of the quarter, Florida still led 61-43.
Georgia kicked off the fourth quarter with another late-game run, eventually cutting Florida’s lead down to 65-56. Within seconds of the lead shrinking to single digits, Reynolds sped down the court and blew past the UGA defense for a fast-break layup.
After a Bulldogs miss on the following possession, Correa drew another foul to sink two more free throws. With that, she had officially hit the 30-point mark and set her new scoring season high. Georgia senior forward Jordan Cole responded with a layup on the other end.
Two possessions later, Cole went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe, but Georgia got the ball right back following a technical foul call on Dut. Junior guard De’Mauri Flournoy knocked down one of the two technical free throws, and Avinger drilled a jump shot on the subsequent play. After a missed jumper from Correa and a foul on Rimdal, Thompson made two more free throws to cut the Georgia deficit to 69-64.
Following another miss from Florida, Cole went back to the line. Cole only converted on one of her two attempts, keeping it a two-score game for Florida. Two possessions later, Dut went to the line herself after being fouled on a layup attempt. Dut knocked down her first free throw but missed the second one.
On the subsequent skirmish for the rebound, the ball was knocked out of bounds. The officials ruled that it was out on the Bulldogs, and Florida maintained possession. Matharu eventually pulled up for a jump shot at the top of the key, but not before being fouled on the play. She knocked down both free throws to extend Florida’s lead back up to 72-65.
After another pair of free throws for the Bulldogs, Matharu sliced through the paint for a clutch reverse layup. Thompson quickly responded with a basket, setting the stage for perhaps the most important possession of the game. With 46 seconds remaining, the Gators had a chance to put the game on ice.
The ball bounced around the perimeter between Matharu and Correa before landing in Dut’s hands. Dut powered her way through the paint and went for the layup, drawing a hard foul on the way up. Dut drilled both free throws to all but seal the victory.
“We were getting a lot of foul calls, which can be very frustrating, and it will speed you up on offense,” Matharu said. “But in this case, we just didn’t do that, and I noticed that early, and I was able to just slow us down and let [my teammates] know, ‘Hey, we’ve got this. Let’s attack them the same way they’re attacking us, get to the free throw line, and from there we can go.”’
The Gators will return to the Stephen C. O’Connell Jan. 22 when they play host to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
Contact Jack Meyer at jmeyer@alligator.org. Follow him on X @jackmeyerUF.
Jack Meyer is a third-year journalism major and a sports reporter for The Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys running, spending time with friends, playing video games, and watching the Miami Heat and Miami Dolphins.
