Gators’ 2023-24 Season Closes out with Loss to St. John’s
The Gators end its season falling 79-60 to St. John’s at the O’Dome. Florida was led offensively by Aliyah Matharu with a 23-point outing, followed by Laila Reynolds with a 17-point performance.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators fell 79-60 to St. John’s in the first round of the inaugural WBIT. Florida was challenged by the Red Storm from the start and saw a tall task in Unique Drake’s 37-point outing.
The Gators were led on offense by Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> with 23-points and Laila Reynolds<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/laila-reynolds/16215> securing 17. Senior Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> led on the boards one final time with eight rebounds.
IN THE FIRST:
* Laila Reynolds<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/laila-reynolds/16215> secured 55 percent of Florida’s first quarter points with ten
* Reynolds was 5-of-6 from the field
* Reynolds also led on the boards with three rebounds
* Florida finished the quarter shooting 66.7 percent from the field
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> hit both of Florida’s three-point field goals
* The Gators had eight points in the paint compared to St. John’s 14
* St. John’s outscored Florida 23-18 in the initial quarter
* Both the Gators and St. John’s were even at four rebounds
IN THE SECOND:
* Florida was held to only 11-points in the second
* Laila Reynolds<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/laila-reynolds/16215> led the Gators in scoring with an additional four points for a combined half total of 14
* The Red Storm went on a 8-0 scoring run to get a 20-point lead over Florida
* The 20-point lead was St. John’s largest of the half
* St. John’s shot 63.3 percent from the field compared to Florida’s 29.4 percent
* Florida forced two Red Storm turnovers but could only convert on one tallying two points
* The Gators finished out the half with 16-points in the paint
IN THE THIRD:
* The Gators were held to only nine points in the third
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> secured three points to lead Florida in its lowest scoring quarter of the game
* Laila Reynolds<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/laila-reynolds/16215>, Alberte Rimdal<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/alberte-rimdal/16032>, and Jeriah Warren<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/jeriah-warren/16033> tallied two points each
* Florida notched six of nine points from inside the paint
* The final three came from Matharu off a three-point jumper
* Florida saw its largest deficit in the first 30 minutes of play with a margin of 23 points (61-38)
IN THE FOURTH:
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> had her highest scoring quarter with 11-points
* The Gators bench added four points to cut into its 23-point deficit
* Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> went 2-of-2 from the field to notch four points
* The Gators secured 22-points, its highest of the contest
* Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> led the Gators on the boards with 5 rebounds
* Florida held St. John’s to only one bench point and zero points off rebounds
* In the final quarter the Gators outscored the Red Storm 22-18
* This marks the only period Florida surpassed St. John’s in scoring
WORTH NOTING:
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> led Florida in scoring for the fifteenth time this season
* With 23-points Matharu secured her thirteenth 20+ point outing this year
* Matharu tied her career high in made three-point field goals with five
* Florida was outscored by St. John’s in the first three quarters
* Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> led on the boards for her sixth time this season and ninth time as a Gator
* Half of Florida’s points came from within the paint (30)
* Florida outrebounded St. John’s 31-27
* St. John’s Jillian Archer recorded 15-points going 7-of-7 from the field to yield a shooting percentage of 100
* The Gators forced a total of six turnovers on St. John’s
* Laila Reynolds<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/laila-reynolds/16215> finished the contest shooting 53 percent from the field
* This marks Florida’s third game this season totaling 60 points or less
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> finished shooting 100 percent from the free throw line going 8-of-8
TEAM RECORDS:
Florida: 16-16 (7-12 SEC)
St. Johns (18-14, 11-8 BIG EAST)
SERIES RECORD:
The current all-time series between Florida and St. John’s is in favor of the Red Storm at 3-1.
KELLY RAE FINLEY SAID:
UF Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on navigating tough losses:
As a leader, it’s really important that you take responsibility for the results, you don’t deflect and you don’t make excuses. I am the leader of the program and that’s on me. I think that as I reflect, as a competitor you want it right now. We weren’t ready for that step. We weren’t as ready as we wanted to be as much as we worked for it. We just weren’t ready for it…Its our staff’s responsibility to put us in a position to find success every night and that’s what we’re going to do.
UF head coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on the future of the team:
“I think it’s very exciting. The student athletes that will return are going to have much more experience and they’re going to have those close games to look back on. I think the incoming freshmen that we have will make an impact. And then when you ask about the trajectory of the program, I think anybody who’s paying attention should see really, really bright things in our future. But anything great just takes time.”
NEXT UP:
Florida’s fall to St. John’s marks the conclusion of its 2023-24 season. Florida will lose three graduating seniors: Zippy Broughton<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/zippy-broughton/16025>, Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027>, Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028>, and welcome three signees for the 2024-25 season. The Gators 2024 recruiting class ranks tenth in the nation and includes: Me’Arah O’Neal, Kylee Kitts, and Liv McGill.
#GoGators
