Florida junior forward Jade Weatherby blew a kiss to the Alabama bench when she sank her second three-pointer in the first quarter, cutting the Gators' deficit to three points. Florida sophomore guard Liv McGill then chipped in with a layup, followed by an and-one layup from freshman forward Caterina Piatti to tie the game 14-14.
But that did not last long, as Alabama recovered its advantage and led by as much as 12 in the second quarter.
However, something switched for the Gators at halftime. They cleaned up their defense and committed just one turnover in the third quarter.
Ultimately, the game got physical in the last 10 minutes. Alabama junior forward Essence Cody and Florida junior guard Laila Reynolds both fouled out. Also, Gators sophomore forward Me’Arah O’Neal and Piatti both found themselves in foul trouble and were benched.
With three starters on the bench for the majority of the last quarter, the Gators could not hold, as Florida (16-13, 4-10 SEC) lost the match-up against No. 25 Alabama (21-7, 7-7 SEC) 76-71.
“It created some adversity for us,” head coach Kelly Rae Finley said. “I thought Gift did a great job stepping in, filling a role, competing to the best of her ability and giving us a spark off the bench.”
What debilitated the Gators early on was Alabama’s shooting game from beyond the arc. Coming into the contest, the Crimson Tide shot 36% from deep, but they went 52% from 3-point range Sunday.
At the forefront of the attack was Crimson Tide redshirt senior guard Jessica Timmons, who sank seven triples and tallied 34 points overall. Also, senior guard Ta’Mia Scott scored 21 points, shooting 5 for 8 from downtown.
In comparison, Florida was shooting 38% from that deep, with three 3-pointers coming from Weathersby, two from McGill and two from freshman forward Nidi Yiech. McGill led the team with 19 points, four rebounds and eight assists after playing a full 40 minutes.
McGill, however, struggled from the free-throw line, only hitting five of 13 attempts, including two misses in the fourth quarter. Overall, the Gators shot 60% from the charity stripe.
Helping McGill, 26 points came from Florida’s bench, with Weathersby scoring 13 and Yiech scoring 10.
Despite their struggles elsewhere, Florida dominated on the boards, grabbing 37 rebounds to Alabama’s 28. For the Gators, KN’isha Godfrey racked up 10 rebounds, while Weathersby had eight. Alabama senior guard Karly Weathers and redshirt sophomore forward Naomi Jones tied for the ‘Bama team lead with six.
The teams were close in turnovers and points off turnovers. Florida was able to convert 14 points from Alabama’s 15 turnovers and Alabama was able to capitalize with 13 points off of Florida’s 16 turnovers.
Moving forward, the team hopes to improve on free throws and prepare for the soon-to-come SEC tournament, Finley said.
“We’ve prepared the same way all season with grit, tenacity, hard work and determination,” Finley said. “This team has tremendous work ethic, and so I fully expect us to rest, take care of our bodies tomorrow. Show up to practice on Tuesday and be ready to go.”
Florida will host Ole Miss on Tuesday in its final regular-season game before SEC play. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET in the Exactech Arena.
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.
