Florida fought till the buzzer in Baton Rouge Sunday afternoon against No. 7 LSU, but were edged 106-66. Leading the Gators on offense was Aliyah Matharu and Leilani Correa with a combined 33 points.
BATON ROUGE, LA. – After a challenging 40 minutes against the 2023 defending national champions, the Gators were edged 106-66 by LSU. Florida was led in scoring by Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> with a 20-point outing, followed by Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> with 13, but it wasn’t enough to match the Tigers six players in double digits for scoring.
Overall, the Tigers came into the home contest fired up after losing two straight conference games to South Carolina and Mississippi State. With Hailey Van Lith and Mikaylah Williams each securing 21 points to lead LSU, the Gators were met with an extremely tall task.
IN THE FIRST:
* Florida led for a total of two minutes and five seconds in the first quarter
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> secured four points to lead Florida offensively, followed by Alberte Rimdal<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/alberte-rimdal/16032> with three
* The Gators forced three turnovers on LSU in the first five minutes of play
* Florida totaled 21 possessions in the first
* Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> led on the boards snagging two of the teams seven rebounds
IN THE SECOND:
* Correa recorded five points in the first two minutes of the second, contributing to her quarter total of 10 to lead the Gators in scoring
* Florida increased their shooting from the field to garner a 43.8 percent in the second
* Zippy Broughton<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/zippy-broughton/16025> continued to move the ball for the Gators, distributing two assists
* Florida finished the quarter with 17-points to mark their second highest scoring quarter of the game
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> snagged two steals adding to the Gators first half total of six
* To end the first half, Florida had 21 bench points, 12 points in the paint, and 11 points off turnovers
IN THE THIRD:
* The Gators tacked on an additional 10 rebounds in the third with Broughton and Warren both securing two apiece to lead on the boards
* Florida’s 15-points in the third were spread across six players
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> led the quarter in scoring with four, followed by Faith Dut<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/faith-dut/16028> with three
* The Gators recorded eight points in the paint and four bench points
* Florida forced three turnovers on the Tigers, getting LSU’s total to 12 entering the final 10 minutes of play
IN THE FOURTH:
* Florida had 23-points in the fourth to mark their game high in scoring
* Matharu led the quarter with eight points to reach her game total of 20
* The Gators saw the free throw line 17 times in the final 10 minutes
* Capitalizing on 11 of the 17 attempts
* The Gators secured an additional 12 rebounds in the fourth
* Alexia Dizeko<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/alexia-dizeko/16216> led on the boards for Florida with four
* Florida forced five turnovers on LSU in the final 10 minutes of play and were held to zero
WORTH NOTING:
* The Gators had 18 fast breaks, tallying ten more than LSU
* Florida converted for 18 points off those fast breaks
* Aliyah Matharu<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/aliyah-matharu/16030> snagged five steals for the Gators, adding to Florida’s team total of 11
* Florida secured 37 bench points compared to the Tigers 22
* Leilani Correa<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/leilani-correa/16027> reached double-digits in scoring for her thirteenth consecutive time out
* Dating back to 12/2 at Marshall
* Florida ended the contest with 37 bench points, 30 points in the paint, and 19 points off LSU turnovers
* The Gators had a total of 85 possessions
KELLY RAE FINLEY SAID:
UF coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on LSU and their many weapons:
“Every game comes down to advantages, where they are on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Each team has to play to their strengths and that’s something that we tried to do tonight, but I thought that LSU did a great job of attacking in transition and really sharing the ball well, but I thought it was their defense that changed the game for them.”
UF coach Kelly Rae Finley<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/coaches/kelly-rae-finley/1658> on team improvements:
“We are making huge strides and improvements in a lot of areas, especially in our defensive positioning, I don’t think that was exceptionally great for us tonight but as a whole, and as a team, we are here to keep building. We want to have grit and resolve and I thought that we showed that tonight.”
TEAM RECORDS:
Florida: 11-9 (2-6 SEC)
LSU: 19-4 (6-3 SEC)
SERIES RECORD:
The current series between Florida and LSU now sits at 32-16 with the Tigers ahead by sixteen victories.
NEXT UP:
The Gators will return to their home court Thursday evening to face Arkansas. The game is set to tip-off at 6 p.m. and will be available on SECN+.
Arkansas will be coming off a Sunday evening home game against Auburn, and currently holds a 4-4 SEC record. Overall the Razorbacks have four players averaging in double figures for scoring this season. They are led by Taliah Scott with a combined 366 points, averaging 21.5 an outing. Following Scott with a season average of 14 points per game is Samara Spencer.
Leading Arkansas on the boards is Saylor Poffenbarger with 266 for the season and an average of 12.1 a game. Poffenbarger is the only Razorback averaging double figures in rebounding with a large gap between her and Maryam Dauda who is second line with 6.7 a game.
ARKANSAS (16-7, 4-4):
* Date: Thursday, Feb. 8
* Time: 6 p.m. CT
* Site: Exactech Arena
* Stream: SECN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/1ee906b8-760e-49b1-88cb-e4aa624ba33a>
* Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM<https://floridagators.com/watch/?Live=5279&type=Archive>
* Stats: StatBroadcast<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=490552>
* Tickets<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/ism/V0IyMzEw>
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