Brynn Farrell recorded a personal-best 17 points to lead Florida on Friday night.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Another strong defensive performance helped push Florida women’s basketball past Grambling State, 70-55, on Friday evening in Exactech Arena.
The Gators (3-2, 0-0 SEC) got a key spark off of the bench in Brynn Farrell. The sophomore put together the best night of her career, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the field (3-for-3 from deep) en route to a team-high 17 points. Farrell’s 17 points helped the Gators to a 30-15 bench advantage over the Tigers (2-1, 0-0 SWAC). In addition to Farrell, Emanuely de Oliveira stepped-up for the short-handed Gators, dropping a career-best 14 points to go along with five rebounds and a steal.
LaVender Briggs found her stroke on Friday evening, adding 14 points of her own in addition to five rebounds, two assists and a steal. The floor general, Kiara Smith, acted as a distributor with nine assists, six rebounds and four points. As a team, the Gators ended 24-of-56 (42.9%), including just 6-of-20 (30%) from deep.
Despite the struggles from behind the three-point line, the Florida defense managed to lockdown the Tigers from range. Grambling State was held to 20-of-51 (39.2%) from the floor, but just 4-of-16 (25%) from deep. The Gators were also dominant on the glass, winning the battle, 38-28.
With just 2:42 remaining in the first half, the teams found themselves even at 24. In a crucial 90-second stretch, Florida ended the half on a 7-0 run that was capped-off by Jeriah Warren’s first career triple to give the Gators a 31-24 advantage.
In similar fashion to their matchup with Wofford, the Gators put the defensive clamps down in the third quarter, holding Grambling State to 4-of-13 shooting and just nine points in the while forcing five turnovers. With the Tigers still hanging around with three minutes remaining, the Orange & Blue offensive lit up for an 11-0 run, with five of the points coming from Farrell and four from de Oliveira. Florida would hold their biggest lead of the game, 50-33, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers would not disappear without a fight, however, using an 8-0 run of their own to start the final frame and immediately cut the lead down to nine. Both squads would continue to trade buckets throughout the quarter until a 10-3 spurt late in the game, with seven more points from Farrell, giving the Gators the momentum needed to hold on for the 70-55 win.
Quoteables
Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley
On the game as a whole…
“Overall, I thought it was a good effort by a lot of people that have been preparing every day for this opportunity. I thought Manu was excellent on both ends of the floor and that’s to be expected. That’s something that she does for us every day. She played just a bit out of position, and I thought she was fabulous. And then obviously, Brynn Farrell, off the bench, is another person whose always ready. She’s in the gym, she’s working. To be perfect from the floor tonight, I thought she made some really big toughness plays and huge moments for us. Those were two big players tonight, though I thought everybody did a great job with their contributions.”
On the difference between the second and third quarters…
“Probably a little bit of focus, discipline, just locking into our game plan and what we needed to do. We were a little overzealous in that second quarter there, got beat on some drives. Offensively, just a little bit stagnant. Missed quite a few little bunnies, shots that we are used to make so it kind of took the air out of the ball just a little bit. But I thought we came out much stronger in that third quarter, 19-9, and that was more indicative of where we want to be both offensively and defensively.”
On the importance of Kiara Smith
“That’s who Kiki is – nine assists, one turnover. To have the ball in her hands as much as she did tonight, to withstand their pressure for 28 minutes, obviously I’m sure she wasn’t impressed with her offensive performance from a field goal standpoint, but she does so much more for us.”
Senior Forward Emanuely de Oliveira
On team chemistry…
“I think that not only today, but for every game team chemistry is very important to win. It’s the thing for me, that is the most important because we can’t play together if we don’t have chemistry so, I think it’s very important.”
On coming back this season…
“Honestly it’s great. I’m very happy to be back, to play with my team and [play] here. So, I’m very happy.”
Postgame Bites
– With nine assists in Friday’s game against Grambling State, Smith boasts 319 career assists, the 12th-best number in Gators history.
– Florida women’s basketball has been dominant defensively in the third quarter this season, holding teams to a combined 25-of-85 (29.4%) shooting from the field and 7-of-18 (38.8%) from deep. Take away a stellar shooting performance from Towson and Florida is holding opponents to just 4-of-13 (30.7%) from three-point land in the third period.
– Farrell’s 5-for-5 performance from the field is not an easy feat to accomplish, as the last player to have a perfect game from the floor (min. five attempts) was Ronni Williams against Longwood on November 17, 2014 when she was a perfect 8-of-8.
– With 14 points against Grambling State, Briggs now owns 844 career points, just 156 away from becoming the 27th member of the 1,000-point club at Florida.
– With her halftime-ending triple, Warren recorded her first collegiate three-pointer en route to a career-best five points.
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