Florida Grabs 78-69 Home Win Over Georgia
The Gators defeat Georgia in a Sunday matinee at Exactech Arena. Florida was led by Leilani Correa with a 30-point outing, followed by Aliyah Matharu who recorded a 21-point game. Freshman, Laila Reynolds grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Gators on the boards for the second time this week.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida returned to the O’Dome Sunday afternoon and defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 78-to-69. Florida’s victory marked the Gators first conference and home win of the 2023-24 season.
The Gators came out strong in the initial jump, recording as high as a 12-point lead in the first quarter. Florida secured an additional 19 points in the second and shot 50 percent from the field to increase their lead over Georgia even further.
Georgia’s highest scoring quarter of the game occurred in the fourth. The Bulldogs secured 26 points in the last 10 minutes of play to test the Gators one last time. Florida answered the call and closed out with a nine-point margin.
On offense, the Gators were led by Leilani Correa with her first 30-point game of the season. Correa’s 30-point outing marks her career high in scoring as a Florida Gator. Aliyah Matharu also reached double-figures in scoring with a 21-point performance for the Gators. Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley commented, “the two of them [Correa and Matharu] excel together on the court. These two are explosive and dynamic when they are both hitting on the same night, and tonight that’s exactly what happened.”
IN THE FIRST:
* Laila Reynolds and Leilani Correa led Florida in scoring with five points each- adding to the Gators quarter total of 19
* 10 of the Gators 19 points were in the paint and five were points from the bench
* Florida held Georgia to only nine points in the first quarter
* Florida went on a seven-point run in the middle of the first to get the score from 5-4 to 12-4
* The Gators forced eight turnovers on the Lady Bulldogs to convert for 13 points
* Faith Dut recorded a block, adding to her season total of 16 which has her ranked in the SEC’s top 15
IN THE SECOND:
* Leilani Correa went 3-of-4 (75%) from the three, and 5-of-8 from the field to account for 13 of the Gators 19 points in the second quarter
* Correa also snagged three of the Gators five steals
* The Gators were led on the boards by Eriny Kindred with three rebounds
* Florida finished the half totaling 22 points off their 13 forced turnovers on Georgia
* Florida shot 57.1 percent from the three in the second, their best of the game
* In the first two quarters Florida had a combined 33 attempts from the field
IN THE THIRD:
* Aliyah Matharu led Florida in the third with nine points and two steals
* Leilani Correa followed with eight points and one steal
* The Gators added 23 points to their total- marking their highest scoring quarter of the game
* Florida snagged an additional four steals and five turnovers on Georgia
* Faith Dut and Laila Reynolds both grabbed two rebounds to lead on the boards
* Florida showed discipline in only allowing Georgia one trip to the free throw line in the third
IN THE FOURTH:
* The Gators outrebounded Georgia 10 to six in the final quarter
* Aliyah Matharu led Florida in scoring for back-to-back quarters with eight points in the fourth
* Matharu was 100 percent from the free throw line going 4-for-4
* Florida recorded eight additional points in the paint, adding to their second half total of 14
* Correa tallied four more points to get her to a game total of 30
WORTH NOTING:
* Leilani Correa surpassed her season high in scoring with 30 points
* Previous season high was 28 (vs. South Carolina 1/4)
* Correa’s 30-point outing is the Gators first of the 2023-24 season
* Matharu secured another 20+ point performance, her eighth of the season
* Also marks Matharu’s second 20+ game in a row (had 23-points at Tennessee 1/11)
* The Gators recorded 15 steals- their second highest of the season
* Season high in steals is set at 17 (at Vanderbilt 1/7)
* Laila Reynolds grabbed seven rebounds to lead Florida on the boards for the second game in a row
* Florida forced eight turnovers on Georgia’s Asia Avinger who led the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points
* The Gators made eight three-point field goals- the team’s third highest of the season
* Season high in made 3FG is 11 (Florida A&M 11/13)
* After 40 minutes, Florida totaled 75 possessions, averaging 1.04 points per possession
SERIES RECORD:
Florida tacks a win onto their all-time series against Georgia. The record between the Gators and the Bulldogs now stands at 63-19, with Georgia leading.
KELLY RAE FINLEY SAID:
UF coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on what the game meant and overall thoughts:
“That was a huge game of growth for us. We are a very talented team, we are very committed… This team gives their best effort every single day, so I’ve been very proud of them. Sometimes you have to make the breaks go your way and I feel like that’s what we did tonight.”
UF coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on Faith Dut’s performance and role:
“Faith is so dynamic. She has a great basketball IQ and for her size she allows us to play a very fast game- that coupled with her basketball IQ, she can get our guards open… Whatever Faith has in front of her and whatever we’ve asked her to do in order to help our team she does it to the best of her ability and it has always made us a better team.”
UF coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on tonight’s crowd and energy:
“I don’t know if that game goes our way if Gator Nation didn’t show up the way they did today. We play a really fun style of basketball and I was really happy that our team was able to celebrate and showcase how we play. The crowd was absolutely outstanding in giving us that energy, they had the “go Gators” chant near the end, which just empowers you- it makes you remember that there’s a lot of people cheering for us, that believe in us, and can celebrate us.”
SENIOR GUARD LEILANI CORREA SAID:
Senior guard Leilani Correa on setting her season high in scoring:
“I think I play my best basketball when I am constantly moving around because it’s really hard to guard that and my teammates just knew where I was on the floor tonight. They know where I score best on the floor, they know where to give me the ball, so just all credit to them for doing that,
SENIOR GUARD ALIYAH MATHARU SAID:
Senior guard Aliyah Matharu on playing as a team:
“We are definitely making progress. It’s a marathon. Today we did a really good job of playing team basketball all the way around; from finding Leilani, to helping Faith in the post, and on defense we found the open person.”
NEXT UP:
Florida will have eight days before returning to action against Mississippi State. The Monday night contest will be at the O’Dome and is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off on SEC Network.
Mississippi State has four players currently averaging in double figures for scoring: Jerkaila Jordan (17.2 ppg), Jessika Carter (15.1 ppg), Debreasha Powe (11.6 ppg), and Lauren Park-Lane (10.4 ppg). Carter also leads on the boards for Mississippi State, averaging 9.6 a game.
Mississippi State’s Lauren Park-Lane is one of seven players in NCAA women’s basketball history to surpass 2,000 points and 800 assists in her collegiate career. Park-Lane also leads the SEC with 108 total assists this season, making her a large offensive threat.
MISSISSIPPI STATE (14-4, 1-2):
* Date: Monday, Jan. 22
* Time: 7 p.m.
* Site: Exactech Arena
* Stream: SECN<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/616aa681-c226-4375-b337-68afbeb64f90>
* Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5276>
* Stats: StatBroadcast<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=490550>
* Tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/ism/V0IyMzA4>
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