The Gators return home for a Sunday matchup with Georgia at noon ET.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Florida senior KK Deans scored her 1,000th-career point on Thursday evening in Arkansas, but it wasn’t enough for the Gators to overcome the Razorbacks, falling 102-74 to the Southeastern Conference foe.
The Gators (12-4, 1-2 SEC) were led by KK Deans, who scored the 1,000th-point of her career at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter, with 18 points. Freshman Myka Perry and junior Ra Shaya Kyle each tallied 17 points, a new career-best for Perry. For the game, the Gators shot 22-of-64 (34.4%) from the field and 4-of-18 (22.2%) from deep. Arkansas (15-3, 2-1 SEC) ended 32-of-65 (49.2%) from the floor and 12-of-30 (40%) from deep.
A bright spot for the Orange & Blue, Florida excelled at the free throw line, shooting an impressive 26-of-32 (81.3%), led by a 9-of-11 effort from Deans. There was no shortage of free throws on the other side of the court as Arkansas shot 35, connecting on 26 (74.3%).
On the glass, the Razorbacks held a 42-33 advantage, but it was an even effort from both teams in second chance points at 16 each. Kyle, Jeriah Warren and Taliyah Wyche each brought down five rebounds to lead UF.
The Gators were on the board first Thursday night, going inside to Kyle and immediately drawing a foul to take the early lead. Neither team was able to establish a lead in the following minutes, with Arkansas taking a 13-11 lead into the first media break. Perry paced the Gators with five early points, including her first collegiate triple. The back-and-forth affair continued for much of the remainder of the period, until the Razorbacks used a 6-1 burst to take a 24-19 lead into the second quarter. There were five ties and five lead changes through the first 10 minutes of action.
Trailing by 11 at the 7:18 mark of the second quarter, it was again Perry who pulled the Gators out of a scoring drought, draining a corner three to bring UF back within eight at 30-22. It would be the Razorbacks claiming momentum before the half, however, taking a 21-point advantage into the final 20 minutes of play.
Coming out of the halftime break trailing 48-27, the Gators didn’t back down, opening with an 11-5 effort capped-off by a Kyle layup to pull within 15 at 53-38. A quick five points from Arkansas in response pushed their lead back to 21 en route to a 102-74 victory in Bud Walton Arena.
Up Next
The Gators return home on Sunday for a noon ET matchup with SEC rival, Georgia. The game will air live nationally on ESPNU.
Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley
On Thursday’s game…
“Arkansas is a talented team with a highly-potent offense and they played probably their best basketball tonight. Our team is young, we’re growing and we need to learn to compete. Three of our losses have come against teams that play a similar style of basketball, so we’ve learned that that’s difficult for us and we’ll go back to practice tomorrow and continue to improve.”
Notables
– The all-time series record moves to 30-13, still in favor of the Gators.
– Myka Perry recorded a career-high with xx points, including her first collegiate three-pointer.
– KK Deans scored her 1,000th-point with an acrobatic layup with 5:23 on the clock in the third quarter.
– #GoGators –
