Florida’s upset attempt falls short against No. 10 Oklahoma

After a sloppy first half by both teams and an uphill climb for the Sooners in the third, it all came down to the fourth quarter.

With the Gators up three heading into the final 10 minutes, the Sooners began firing off buckets in quick succession. That, paired with more consistent turnovers from Florida, helped OU catapult back into the lead.

Despite leading for 28 minutes and 13 seconds, the Gators (15-12, 3-9 SEC) fell short against No. 10 Oklahoma (18-6, 6-5 SEC) 81-74 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

In the first quarter, quality possessions were at a minimum and turnovers were at a maximum. By the end of the first 20 minutes, Florida lost the ball 17 times while Oklahoma committed 13 turnovers.

Those mistakes resulted in 14 points for the Gators and 16 points for the Sooners. However, points were left on the floor for Oklahoma due to poor shooting from the field. In the first half, OU shot a measly 28% from the field while Florida shot 56%.

Part of that inefficiency was due to the slow start of Oklahoma guard Aaliyah Chavez. The freshman, who leads the Sooners, averaging 18.2 points per game, was held to two points in the first half, with her only points coming from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Florida sophomore guard Liv McGill had a blistering start to the contest. Despite five first-half turnovers, the dynamic scorer put up 17 points on 7-10 shooting from the field before the half was over.

But, coming out of halftime, Chavez’s expert passing helped the Sooners find a foothold. In the third quarter, the Sooners dramatically improved their field goal percentage and tightened up their passing, closing the gap going into the fourth quarter.

Chavez had a much better second half, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Alongside her, sophomore guard Zya Vann led the Sooners with 18 points, as well as two rebounds and three assists. 

Florida shut down another one of the Sooners’ contributors, Raegan Beers, in the first 20 minutes. She was quick to get into foul trouble and was limited to 3 and a half minutes in the first half. But by the end, she too had found her rhythm and ended with nine points and five rebounds.

Ultimately, the Sooners were able to put the ball in the hands of players like senior guard Payton Verhulst. She put up 15 points in the second half, ending the contest with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

The Gators had two major weaknesses in this matchup.

The first was the aforementioned turnover issues. In the first half, both teams suffered from them, but when Oklahoma tightened its possessions up in the second half, Florida didn’t. 

The Gators committed six more turnovers after the half while the Sooners committed only three. The small margin made the difference as Oklahoma scored 28 points off of Florida’s mistakes, compared to UF’s 17.

The second was the over-reliance on McGill. While McGill finished the game with team-highs in points (29), rebounds (7) and assists (7), only two other Gators hit the double-digit scoring mark: sophomore Me’Arah O’Neal (14) and junior Jade Weathersby (11). 

The Gators are counting down the regular season with four games left before the SEC Tournament. Their next challenge is against Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

This matchup is pivotal. With both teams sitting at the bottom of the SEC standings, a win could shift tournament seeding, potentially helping Florida avoid a last-place path in the SEC Tournament while building crucial momentum heading into March.

Contact Isis Snow at isnow@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isis_snoww.

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