After trailing by as many as 17 points late in the first quarter, Florida fought back. Alexia Dizeko connected from deep with three minutes left in the third quarter, and the game was tied.
Throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter, both teams traded points, fouls and the lead. However, the turning point came when Kentucky’s Clara Strack was put back into the game, as her tight defence denied two crucial opportunities for Florida and created a separation Florida couldn’t respond to.
The Gators (12-8, 0-5 SEC) fell to the Wildcats (16-2, 3-1 SEC) 94-89 Thursday on the road. Against the No. 7 team in the nation, Florida failed to come out with its first Southeastern Conference win of the season.
With 4:54 left in the first quarter, Florida took a much-needed timeout to recoup after quickly falling behind down 12-2. But that timeout would not change much, as the Wildcats stormed to a 29-14 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Going into the second quarter, things began to change for the Gators. Florida came out aggressively, scoring 24 points in the quarter. They hit four 3-pointers and trailed only by seven at the half.
With five minutes left in the third quarter, Florida chipped their way to their tightest gap of the game, trailing by only two points. Kentucky’s top scorer, Clara Strack (averaging 16.5 points per game), found herself in foul trouble and was benched for the duration of the third quarter and seven minutes into the fourth.
Ultimately, the Gator run fell flat as the Wildcats led the fourth quarter scoring 28-16, pulling ahead late in the contest and making 6 of their last 8 attempts from the field to ice the game.
Sophomore Me’rah O’Neal led Florida in scoring with 23 points for the night on 8-of-16 shooting and 2-for-4 from downtown. Sophomore Liv McGill followed closely behind with 20 points for the night before fouling out with 20 seconds left in the contest.
For the second straight game, the Gators’ bench played a major factor, with 30 points coming from Jade Weathersby (18) and Alexia Dizeko (12). As a team, the Gators shot a combined 9-for-20 from 3-point range.
Senior guard Tonie Morgan was the leading scorer of the night with 26 total points, followed by Strack’s 20 points. Both teams committed turnovers in the double-digits; the Gators committed 15 from which the Wildcats added 18 points, and Kentucky committed 11 turnovers that Florida was able to convert into 13 points.
The Gators will return to Gainesville on Sunday to compete against Missouri (12-7, 0-4) at 2 p.m. at the Stephen O’Connell Center. Both teams are chasing their first conference win of the season.
Contact Coral Uzgiden at cuzgiden@alligator.org. Follow her on X @coraluzgiden.
Coral is a sophomore Sports Journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator covering Lacrosse. She also has experience writing for WRUF and covering beats such as high school football and Gators swim and dive. She is an intern for the Women of the Lowcountry and in her free time enjoys playing waterpolo, going to the gym and being outside.
