Despite holding the lead for upwards of 38 minutes, the Gators were unable to secure the win over Ole Miss in overtime excitement.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida was challenged by Ole Miss Thursday evening at home ultimately falling 77-67 in overtime. The Gators held the lead over the Rebels for all but two minutes of regulation but were unable to come through in the five-minute overtime period. Overall, Florida was led by Aliyah Matharu with 24 points.
Florida got off to a fast start against the Rebels going on a nine-point run and leaving Ole Miss scoreless for the first eight minutes of the game. The Gators aggressive start was on both ends of the court, shooting 57.1 percent from the field and forcing seven turnovers on the Rebels in the first quarter alone. Florida was led in the first half by Aliyah Matharu with 15-points, followed by Faith Dut, securing eight. Defensively, Jeriah Warren led on the boards with five of the Gators 16 rebounds.
In the second half, Ole Miss began to whittle away at Florida’s lead getting the margin down to as low as one point in the third quarter (41-40). The Gators fought back with Leilani Correa securing eight points in the third and holding Ole Miss to zero percent from the three once more. In the fourth and final period Florida was outscored 19 to 14 by the Rebels forcing overtime.
Ole Miss continued their momentum into the additional period with both Marquesha Davis and Madison Scott notching five-points apiece. The Rebels 13-points in overtime made it a tall task for the Gators to make a comeback, ultimately falling 77-67.
IN THE FIRST:
* Florida secured the first nine-points of the game to mark their best scoring run of the contest
* The Gators held Ole Miss to one basket for the first eight minutes of play
* Florida forced seven turnovers on Ole Miss in the first quarter
* Ole Miss ended the quarter going 3-of-12 (25%) from the field
* Florida doubled the Rebels’ rebounds, grabbing 10 compared to their five
* Aliyah Matharu led in scoring with six points, followed by Faith Dut with five and Zippy Broughton with four
* Going into quarter two, Florida had a 10-point lead over Ole Miss (19-9)
IN THE SECOND:
* Aliyah Matharu hit a three-point jumper within the first 10 seconds of play to initiate the Gators offense and get the score to 25-9
* Leilani Correa grabbed back-to-back steals within less than a minute of each other to give Florida additional offensive opportunities
* The Gators totaled seven forced turnovers in the second quarter to bring their half total to 14
* Aliyah Matharu led in scoring with nine of Florida’s 15 points
* Florida secured five steals with Jeriah Warren and Correa both snagging two apiece
* Ole Miss went 0-of-1 from the three-point line in the second quarter
* The Gators had the lead 34-26 going into the locker room at half
IN THE THIRD:
* The Gators were led by Leilani Correa on offense with eight points
* Correa was shooting 75-percent from the field and 100-percent from the three
* Jeriah Warren snagged two steals adding to Florida’s quarter total of four
* Florida forced eight turnovers on Ole Miss, marking their game high
* Florida recorded six points in the paint
* Five of the Gators 16 quarter points were off Ole Miss turnovers
* Ole Miss was shooting below 40-percent from the field (37.5%)
* The score stood at 50-45 with the Gators ahead by five entering the fourth
IN THE FOURTH:
* Florida entered the final quarter of play without trailing once to the Rebels
* Aliyah Matharu led in scoring with five-points
* Jeriah Warren closely followed with four
* Leilani Correa led on the boards, securing two of Florida’s five rebounds
* Ole Miss was shooting 9-of-21 from the field and the Gators were shooting 3-of-11, proving it to be a challenging offensive quarter for Florida
* With one-minute left to play the game was tied at 60-points apiece
* The fourth was the Gators’ lowest scoring quarter of the game with 14-points
OVERTIME:
* Ole Miss took the first two points of overtime (66-64)
* The Rebels largest lead of OT was a 10-point margin (75-65) with 41 seconds on the clock
* The 10-point margin was also their biggest lead of the game
* Ole Miss
* The Gators were only able to notch three-points in the final five-minute block
* Aliyah Matharu had two and Faith Dut grabbed one from the free throw line
* Florida was outrebounded by Ole Miss seven to three
* Faith Dut led on the boards with two of the Gators rebounds
WORTH NOTING:
* Leilani Correa hit her 2,000th career point milestone
* Jeriah Warren set her career high in steals with six
* Faith Dut set her season high in scoring with 11-points
* This was Florida’s first game to go into overtime this season
* After four quarters and overtime, Ole Miss was 0-of-7 from the three-point line
* Florida held the Rebels to only two bench points at the end of the first half
* The Gators forced a total of 25 turnovers on Ole Miss, converting for 20 points
* Florida totaled 34 bench points
* Three players for Florida were in double-figures for scoring
* Aliyah Matharu (24)
* Matharu has reached double digits in scoring for all 20 of her times out this season
* Dut (11)
* Correa (10)
* Matharu’s 24-point outing marks her tenth 20+ point outing of the season
* Zippy Broughton has now hit double-figures in scoring for three consecutive games
* The Gators distributed 10 assists and were led by Broughton with three
* The Gators recorded a total of 28 points in the paint
TEAM RECORDS:
Florida: 13-10 (4-7 SEC)
Ole Miss: 17-7 (7-4 SEC)
SERIES RECORD:
Despite tonight’s loss, the all-time series between Florida and Ole Miss is still in favor of the Gators at 24-20. The Gators lead the record over Ole Miss by a margin of four.
NEXT UP:
Florida will get on the road and travel to Lexington in a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Wildcats. Both the Gators and Kentucky are coming off conference losses and are in search of a victory as mid-February comes to fruition.
Kentucky is led on offense by Ajae Petty with an average of 14.6 points per game, Maddie Scherr follows with 13.3. Petty and Scherr are the only two player’s averaging in double-figures for scoring. Petty also holds a large role defensively, leading Kentucky on the boards with an average of 10.5 rebounds per game.
KENTUCKY (9-16, 2-9 SEC):
* Date: Sunday, Feb. 18
* Time: 12 p.m.
* Site: Rupp Arena
* Stream: SECN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/ef71f5f2-bd1d-42e3-8adb-2324c6659ba7>
* Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5282&type=Archive>
* Stats: StatBroadcast<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=491174&vislive=fla>
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