After a blowout at the hands of the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks and a heartbreaker against the 16-1 Vanderbilt Commodores, the Florida Gators women’s basketball team’s SEC woes continued in their third consecutive loss in conference play.
The Gators (9-6, 0-3 SEC) could not hang on in an 88-81 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers (10-5, 3-0 SEC) Thursday evening. UF was competitive for the first three quarters, but Tennessee eventually pulled away for the win in the final 10 minutes of play.
With standout center Ra Shaya Kyle inactive in the matchup, the Gators relied on their backcourt for most of their offensive output. Senior guard Aliyah Matharu led all UF scorers with 23 points on 8-for-22 shooting. As a whole, Florida’s guards contributed to 68 of the team’s 81 points on the evening.
For the Volunteers, senior guard Jewel Spear, senior forward Rickea Jackson and junior forward Sara Puckett carried the load offensively. The trio finished with 58 combined points.
Early on in the first quarter, the Volunteers slowly but steadily built up their momentum against the Gators. With just over five minutes left in the quarter, Tennessee had already jumped out to a 13-8 lead.
But Florida would not go down easily, responding with a 13-2 run to take a four-point lead. By the end of the quarter, however, Tennessee had steadied its ship and narrowed its deficit to 21-19.
Florida’s offense kept on rolling in the second quarter, with Rimdal and Broughton leading the team on a 14-4 run right out of the gates. Within minutes, however, the Gators went from red-hot to ice-cold, recording only two field goals in the final six minutes of the half.
The Volunteers took advantage of this dry spell and crawled right back into the game. By halftime, the game was tied back up at 43-43. After the break, Tennessee’s offense froze up as well, with the two teams combining for just five points in the first three minutes of the third quarter.
As the quarter continued, both squads’ offenses started to thaw out. Freshman guard Laila Reynolds and Matharu combined to score nine of Florida’s 16 points in the quarter.
However, for every step the Gators took, the Volunteers always found a way to stay one step ahead. Tennessee went 6-for-6 in the final four minutes of the quarter to take a 63-59 lead into the fourth quarter.
When the final quarter began, Tennessee was ready to put the game on ice. The Volunteers went on a 9-3 run early in the quarter to jump out to a 62-54 lead. The Gators called a timeout with 5:39 remaining in the game, but this break in the action couldn’t halt Tennessee’s momentum. The Volunteers went on cruise control to finish Florida off, eventually clinching the victory.
Up next for the Gators is a home matchup at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center with the 10-5 Georgia Bulldogs. The game will tip off Sunday at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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.
