The victory marked Florida’s third top-25 win of the season and second in as many attempts.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Picking up their second top-25 victory in as many attempts, Florida women’s basketball pushed their win streak to five games after defeating No. 11 LSU, 73-72, on Sunday afternoon in Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
In a game in which neither team led by more than five in the second half, the final decision would come down to the wire. The Tigers (17-3, 5-2 SEC) gained a late advantage following a Khayla Pointer layup with 2:51 on the clock, giving the opposition a 67-66 lead.
Maintaining high defensive pressure, Nina Rickards managed to intercept a pass at midcourt and fight for the loose ball, leading to a layup and Florida (15-5, 5-2 SEC) lead, 68-67. With 54 seconds remaining, Zippy Broughton found the bottom of the bucket off of a pull up jumper, extending the lead to three before a Kiara Smith free throw gave Florida a four-point advantage with 30 seconds on the clock.
The Tigers knocked down a jumper of their own with eight seconds left, but two clutch free throws by Broughton sealed the game for Florida, holding on for a 73-72 win.
The veteran presence, Smith led the Gators with an impressive 23-point, eight-assist, three-rebound and three-steal performance. Sophomore Jordyn Merritt contributed 16 points, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, three of which came in the third quarter to help keep the Gators within striking distance at four towards the end, in addition to seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Brought came up big for UF, ending with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.
As a squad, Florida shot 24-of-64 (37.5%) from the field and 6-of-17 (35.3%) from deep. Three of the six triples came in the third period, helping the Gators overcome a five-point hole twice at 43-38 with 6:07 left in the quarter, and again at 56-51 with thirty seconds remaining. All three triples in the period came from Merritt.
Defensively, the Orange & Blue put the pressure on the Tigers, forcing 19 turnovers with 15 steals. Merritt led the way with her four steals while Broughton, Rickards and Smith each ended with three. The relentless defense led to a 28-14 advantage in fast break points. The opposition was held to just 1-of-9 shooting from deep.
The Gators also took care of the ball, only allowing eight LSU steals, helping them overcome a 43-36 rebounding discrepancy.
Just as important as the defensive pressure, UF put forth a winning effort at the free throw line, knocking down 19-of-22 (86.4%) attempted free throw line. Smith, who played all 40 minutes for the home squad, knocked down 10-of-13 herself.
The Orange & Blue led by as many as eight in the second quarter, their biggest lead of the game, thanks to a 10-4 spurt, six points of which came from Smith, to gain a 28-20 advantage with 4:54 left in the second. LSU would manage to battle back and tie the game before halftime, eventually earning a five-point lead twice in the third, both following Pointer buckets, but the Gators would respond each time, battling to the final horn for the victory.
Pointer led the Tigers with a game-high 35 points to go along with three steals and a block. She was the only Tiger in double-figures.
The Gators will be back in action next Sunday, Jan. 30, for an important home matchup with the best team in the nation, No. 1 South Carolina. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Quotables
Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley
On what was the difference at the end of the game when they slowed down Pointer…
“We just had to relock in. She’s a really talented player. She had a heck of a game. I thought our guards did a tremendous job on her. We started to kind of play their pace on defense, and that was something we had talked about in the scout. Regrouping and making sure that we were active with our hands and feet, doing the small things, stunting, making them make secondary decisions.”
On Zippy’s confidence in being able to play with four fouls…
“She’s a veteran. She’s logged a lot of minutes. Like Jordyn said, we believe in her, we trust her. I think we have a really unique team. There are not a lot of teams in our conference, or really in the country that can play different styles every night. So, if we need to go big, we go big, if we need to go small, we go small. We try to seek what our advantages are. We knew Zippy had an advantage with her speed tonight and ability to elevate over the defense. She’s a very, very smart player and she’s a great defender. But all of our student athletes play both ends of the floor. So, you have to play offense and defense if you want to really win games and that’s what she does. I was kind of waiting to see okay how long should we go with her on the bench. But I thought Alberte did a tremendous job for a freshman to come in and play those kinds of minutes in a game like that and that kind of environment was big time.”
Sophomore Forward Jordyn Merritt
On the confidence they are playing with…
“I’m just really proud of us honestly. I feel like it just all starts in practice. We all believe in each other, we support each other. There have just been many times where I might have felt like my shot’s off, but if I look to my teammate left and right, they are both like ‘keep shooting the ball you got this.’ So, I just think that the confidence comes from within and like Kelly said, we’re all we got. We believe in ourselves, so that’s all that matters.”
On if it feels like they are taking a step each game…
“Yes, definitely. Again, that starts in practice. Like literally everything we show you guys starts in practice. We believe in each other. We keep fighting to the end. Next play, next possession, one step at a time.”
On how much energy they get from the crowd…
“It’s amazing playing in front of so many fans. I’m just really grateful that they all support us and believe in us. It just brings a lot of energy and helps us through those tough times, so I just appreciate everybody that came out to support us.”
Postgame Bites
– Florida earned their 15th victory over LSU, now trailing 31-15.
– This was the highest-ranked LSU team to be defeated by Florida since Feb. 22, 2001 when the Tigers were ranked 11th.
– Florida has now defeated three top-25 teams in a season for the first time since 2015-16 when they defeated No. 6/7 Florida State, No. 12/11 Tennessee, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 12/11 Texas A&M.
– Sunday’s victory gave Florida their fifth-consecutive SEC win for the first time since the 2008-09 season when they won seven in-a-row.
– The win also marked the highest-ranked victory for Florida since an 82-72 victory over No. 6/7 Florida State on Nov. 16, 2015.
– The Gators denied LSU head coach Kim Mulkey her 650th win.
– Smith moved into 18th in school history with 1,355 points.
– Merritt’s four threes are tied for her second-best outing of the season.
– With another three in Sunday’s contest, Rimdal is 11-of-12 from deep over her last three contests
– #GoGators –
