A 58-point second half outburst gave the Gators their third-straight SEC win for the first time since 2016.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A second-half outburst of 58 points from Florida women’s basketball led to the Gators earning their third-straight victory in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since the 2015-16 season, defeating Alabama, 85-77.
Freshman Alberte Rimdal caught fire inside Coleman Coliseum, scoring a career-best 17 points while ending 6-of-6 from the field and 5-of-5 from three. In her homecoming, Zippy Broughton also helped the Gators’ (13-5, 3-2 SEC) offensive effort, ending with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Faith Dut, who’s 10 third quarter points played a pivotal role in the Florida comeback, ended with a career-best 14 points and Nina Rickards also chipped-in 11 in addition to five rebounds.
Alabama (10-7, 1-5 SEC) ended their evening 29-of-69 (42%) from the floor with the Orange & Blue limiting the Crimson Tide to just 6-of-21 (28.6%) shooting from behind the arc. Florida shot 32-of-68 (47.1%) from the floor and 8-of-19 (42.1%) from deep.
A key difference for the Gators in their victory came from the bench once again, ending with a 27-10 advantage. The Crimson Tide did manage to outrebound UF, 42-40, but Florida held a 17-12 advantage in second chance points. Broughton and Kiara Smith led the Gators with six rebounds each.
Florida moved the ball well at Alabama as well, assisting on 20 of the 32 made shots. Smith’s six led the Gator effort. The Crimson Tide ended the day with just six assists and were led by Megan Abrams with 22 points and seven rebounds.
There was no shortage of offense to begin the game in Tuscaloosa. Playing in front of her family, Broughton managed to get the first bucket for the Gators before both squads raced out to a 7-7 stalemate less than four minutes into the game.
After falling behind, 11-9, the Gators crashed the boards, using three offensive rebounds to give Broughton an open layup and tie the game back up. After the Crimson Tide managed to convert on a triple, Rimdal nailed a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions to give UF a 17-14 lead. The Orange & Blue would take a 17-16 lead into the second quarter.
It was a slow start to the second quarter for both squads, with Kristina Moore scoring the lone bucket from either team for the first four minutes of the period. Florida pushed their advantage to three following a Smith layup, but the Crimson Tide put together a 7-0 spurt to retake the lead, 25-21.
Emanuely de Oliveira managed to put an end to the Alabama run, spinning her way through the lane for an open layup. The Crimson Tide, however, would respond in kind, but couldn’t stop Rickards from beating the buzzer on a pull-up jumper, closing the gap to 29-27 at the half.
The Crimson Tide came out of the locker room on fire, starting the period 4-of-5, to take a 39-35 lead. Faith Dut managed to keep the Gators within reach, scoring 10 points for the Orange & Blue in the first four-and-a-half minutes.
With just over five minutes remaining in the quarter, Smith found a cutting Broughton to bring UF back even with Alabama at 41. The game would again be tied at 43, but the Crimson Tide used five-unanswered points to push their lead to five before Broughton put and end to the run with a triple.
Alabama would extend their lead to six late in the quarter, but Rimdal, feeling it from deep, drained a corner three as time expired to pull Florida within 58-55 with one remaining.
Brittany Davis caught fire to start the finale frame, knocking down two triples to push the opposition’s lead to 66-57 with eight minutes left on the clock. No stranger to pressure situations, Smith responded with two layups of her own to force an Alabama timeout, down five.
Following the final media timeout, Rimdal continued to remain hot from the field, knocking down her fourth triple of the game to pull back within four at 68-64. The freshman would continue to come up big for the Gators, connecting on a floater to get UF back within two.
With the score at 72-70 in favor of the Crimson Tide, Jordyn Merritt muscled her way into the paint for an and-one, giving the Orange & Blue the lead, 73-72, with 3:30 showing on the clock. Merritt would further increase the UF lead, following the pack for a put-back layup with just under three minutes on the clock.
Alabama would pull back within one, but that’s as close as they would get with Rimdal draining her fifth three of game to extend the lead to 78-74, eventually taking the victory, 85-77.
The Gators will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 20 when they travel to Lexington, Ky., for a showdown with Kentucky.
Postgame Bites
– Thirteen victories top last year’s entire win total of 12.
– The victory ends a two-game losing skid to Alabama.
– Alberte Rimdal recorded a career-high 17 points and five made threes, ending 6-of-6 from the floor.
– Sunday marks the earliest that Florida has won three SEC games since the 2013-14 season, when they had three on January 9.
– For the first time since the 2015-16 season, Florida has won three games in-a-row in the SEC. The last time it happened it was: at Arkansas (71-66), vs. #12 Kentucky (85-79), vs. #12 Texas A&M (83-81).
– Kiara Smith now sits at 1,307 career points.
– Smith is now alone in seventh in school history with 194 career steals.
– Smith is 10th in school history with 291 made free throws.
– Smith is now seventh in school history with 378 career assists.
– #GoGators –
