Shots Fell in Starkville, Leading to 20-Point Gator Victory
The Gators come out of Starkville with a 90-70 win over the Bulldogs. Florida had five players in double-figures for scoring and was led overall by Leilani Correa with 27-points.
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Florida faced the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum. The Gators came out strong from the jump and solidified a 90-70 road win. Florida had five players in double figures for scoring and was led once more by Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> with 27-points.
The Gators energy in the first half was contagious. On offense Zippy Broughton<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/zippy-broughton/16025> and Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> both hit double-digits in scoring, contributing to the Gators 70.4 first half shooting percentage from the field. Florida’s initial 50-points was an all-around team effort with 22 bench points, 20 points in the paint, and 10 points off turnovers. With Florida’s 50-points they were able to enter the second half with an 18-point advantage over the Bulldogs (50-32).
To start the second half, Jeriah Warren<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/jeriah-warren/16033> grabbed a driving layup off a Bulldog’s turnover to put the Gators ahead by 20-points once more. From there, Florida was pressured a little more with their lead being whittled down to 11-points at its lowest. However, Florida never let their guard down and secured an additional 40-points over Mississippi State to secure the road victory.
IN THE FIRST:
* Florida led for a total of seven minute and 20 seconds in the first quarter and only trailed for 16 seconds
* The Gators shot 75 percent from the field going 9-of-12
* Florida ended the first quarter with three players shooting 100 percent from the field: Alberte Rimdal<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/alberte-rimdal/16032>, Laila Reynolds<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/laila-reynolds/16215>, and Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028>
* Rimdal led in scoring with eight points going 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the three
* The Gators totaled 26 points in the first quarter to set their game high in scoring
* 12 of the Gators 26 points came from inside the paint
* Defensively, Florida forced five turnovers on the Bulldogs and collected nine rebounds
* Going into the second quarter, Florida had an 11-point lead over Mississippi State (26-15)
IN THE SECOND:
* Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> secured 13-points in the second to lead the Gators on offense
* Correa went 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from the three
* Zippy Broughton<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/zippy-broughton/16025> led Florida in assists with two of the team’s five
* Florida grabbed their first 20+ point lead with under four minutes left in the half (44-23)
* From there the Gators notched a 20+ point lead twice more to end the half (1:57 and 1:25)
*
* Florida ended the first half shooting an impressive 70.4 percent from the field
* Overall the Gators secured 20 points in the paint, 10 points off turnovers, and 22 bench points in the first 20 minutes of play
IN THE THIRD:
* The Gators forced a game high of eight turnovers on the Bulldogs
* Florida secured 12 points in the paint and eight points off turnovers
* Zippy Broughton<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/zippy-broughton/16025> led in scoring with five points
* Florida grabbed seven steals in the third
* The third marked the Gators slowest quarter with only three rebounds and their game low of 17-points
IN THE FOURTH:
* Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> led the Gators in scoring once more with a quarter total of nine-points
* Alberte Rimdal<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/alberte-rimdal/16032> snagged four of Florida’s ten rebounds to lead the Gators on the boards
* The Gators closed out shooting 56.3 percent from the field in the fourth
* Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> shot 100 percent from the field in the fourth
* In the second half, Florida forced 11 turnovers on the Bulldogs
* In the final 20 minutes of play, the Gators had 22 points in the paint and 12 points off turnovers
WORTH NOTING:
* Florida secured their highest first half scoring percentage from the field of the season at 70.4% (19-of-27)
* The Gators secured seven three pointers in the first half alone
* Zippy Broughton<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/zippy-broughton/16025> reached her new season high in scoring with 16-points
* This also marks her second game in a row hitting double figures
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> continued her stretch of recording double digits in scoring every game this season with 11-points
* Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> hit her twentieth game of the season in double figures for scoring
* With her 27-point outing she also secures her seventh 20+ point outing
* Florida set their season high in field goal percentage with a game total of 61-percent
* Previously was 60.6 percent which was set on 12/17/23 at Gardner-Webb
* Florida also set a season high in the three-point percentage category, yielding a 61.1 percent
* Previous 3FG percentage stood at 52.9 and was set on 12/17/23 at Gardner-Webb
* The Gators matched their season high in three-pointers with 11 (set on 2/8 vs. Arkansas)
* Florida finished the contest with 25 fast break points and 22 points from turnovers
* The Gators closed the contest with 42 points in the paint and 40 bench points
TEAM RECORDS:
Florida: 13-9 (4-6 SEC)
Mississippi State: 20-6 (7-4 SEC)
SERIES RECORD:
Despite the Gators win, the current series between Florida and Mississippi State still stands in favor of the Bulldogs. The all-time series is now 28-27, with MS State ahead by one victory.
NEXT UP:
Florida will return home for a Thursday night contest against Ole Miss. The game is set to tip-off at 6 p.m. in the O’Dome and will can be watched via SECN+.
The Gators contest against the Rebels will mark their second meeting of 2023-24, with Florida falling in their last matchup 81-70. Overall Ole Miss is led by Marquesha Davis with 310 points this season, averaging 13.5 a game. Closely following is Madison Scott with an average of 10.6 and season total of 234. Scott is also leading on the boards for Ole Miss this season grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. Rita Igbokwe isn’t far behind on the boards with 5.6 a game and Tyia Singleton holds an average of 5.4 rebounds per game.
Ole Miss comes to Gainesville Thursday after a bye week. The Rebels last time out was on Thursday, Feb. 8, against Texas A&M, falling 72-53. Ole Miss had two players in double digits for scoring: Madison Scott recorded 15 points, and Snudda Collins totaled 14. The Rebels were shooting 36.4 percent from the field which was no match to the Aggie’s 45 percent and 100 percent from the free throw line.
OLE MISS (16-7, 6-4):
* Date: Thursday, Feb. 15
* Time: 6 p.m.
* Site: Exactech Arena
* Stream: SECN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=e9e0e03c-6ea4-49e4-998f-02645f4216f2>+
* Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5282&type=Archive>
* Stats: StatBroadcast<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=489160&vislive=fla>
* Tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/ism/V0IyMzEx>
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