For a quarter, it felt like anyone’s game.
Florida and Oklahoma traded 7-0 runs and finished the opening period tied at 22, each side matching the other possession for possession. But as the game wore on and the stakes grew heavier, the Sooners found another gear.
No. 12-seeded Florida (18-15, 5-12 SEC) had its SEC Tournament run come to an end after being defeated by No. 5 Oklahoma (24-6, 12-5 SEC) 82-64 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Oklahoma’s balanced scoring proved to be the difference. The Sooners placed four players in double figures and received additional contributions throughout the lineup. Florida leaned heavily on sophomore guard Liv McGill, who led all scorers with 28 points, but the Gators did not have enough offensive support behind her to keep pace.
The only other double-digit scorer for the Gators was sophomore forward Me'Arah O’Neal. She helped keep the team within striking distance early, knocking down two first-quarter 3-pointers as Florida erased an early 7-0 Oklahoma run. The Gators briefly took the lead midway through the period before the Sooners responded.
Despite this, Oklahoma had two major weapons, with one on the block and one on the 3-point line.
Freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez commanded the court, scoring 17 points while orchestrating Oklahoma’s attack and knocking down key perimeter shots.
Oklahoma’s senior center Raegan Beers was a force inside the paint, often drawing not one, not two, but four defenders. In the fourth, she even took her dominance to 3-point land, knocking down a triple. And despite not playing in the second quarter due to foul trouble, she finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds and one assist.
If she couldn’t find a path to the hoop, her teammates were there cutting to the basket, ready to help her out. That unselfish basketball is what allowed the Sooners to run up the score after halftime.
Balanced scoring was paired with efficient shooting, as Oklahoma shot 43.1% from the field while Florida struggled to find consistent offense at 35.6%.
Out of the half, Florida allowed 10 unanswered buckets from Oklahoma, and that run put the game out of reach for the Gators. For the rest of the contest, the Sooners slowly pulled away, capitalizing on Florida’s fouls and turnovers.
Adding to Florida’s struggles, McGill briefly left the game in the third quarter after landing on her right arm during a blocking foul. When she returned, she noticeably favored her left hand, even attempting free throws without using her injured wrist.
With their leading scorer subdued and a liability on defense, Florida was vulnerable to Oklahoma’s attacks and unable to strike back on offense.
McGill eventually caught her second wind and started driving and scoring again as if her injury never happened, but the damage had already been done. The clock hit zero, and Florida’s season and SEC Tournament stint came to an end.
Contact Isis Snow at isnow@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isis_snoww.
Isis is a senior sports journalism student who is in her fourth semester at The Alligator. She previously has written for the Avenue desk and has covered the Florida volleyball beat. She also has experience in live broadcast reporting with WUFT. Despite hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada, she is a life-long Michigan and Detroit Lions fan. To make up for the emotional toll of being a fan of those teams, you will often find her in the gym weight lifting and playing basketball.
