GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Women's Basketball Team (8-2) is set to return home for the last five contests of its non-conference slate, starting with a Sunday, Dec. 7 matchup against South Alabama. The Jaguars will face the Gators at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.
The Gators are coming off a tough, 68-64 road loss at Virginia Tech which dropped their overall record to 8-2 on the season. Liv McGill, whose 26.8 points per game rank third in the nation as of Dec. 4, scored a game-high 30 points, and Laila Reynolds added 10, but it wasn't enough for Florida to overcome its 22 turnovers.
Reynolds (13.8 ppg) and Me'Arah O'Neal (14.7) give the Gators a trio of double-digit scorers, as Florida outscores its opponents by an average of 20.2 points per game. O'Neal paces the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.50 bpg), while McGill leads the Gators in assists (5.6) and steals (3.88 spg).
South Alabama (6-2) has already matched its total number of victories from the entire 2024-25 season (6-24). So far this year, the Jaguars and Gators have faced three shared opponents—Memphis, North Florida, and Florida Atlantic.
| Florida | So. Alabama | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W/L | Score | W/L | Score | |
| Memphis | W | 74-60 | L | 68-76 |
| North Florida | W | 96-62 | W | 83-46 |
| Florida Atlantic | W | 59-51 | W | 70-63 |
South Alabama relies on a balanced offensive approach, highlighted by junior guard Amyah Sutton’s 13.6 points per game. Cordasia Harris (12.5 ppg) and Daniela Gonzalez (10.6) also contribute double-digit scoring averages, while four additional Jaguars players post between six and 10 points each. Harris leads the team on the boards with 8.3 rebounds per game and connects on a team-best 54.4 percent of her field goal attempts.
Turnovers remain a major weakness for the Jaguars, as they average 19.3 per contest, and the team has struggled at the free throw line, converting just 64.2 percent of its attempts.
South Alabama (6-2)
- Date: Sunday, December 7
- Time: 2 p.m. EST
- Site: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
- Listen: wruf.com/listen-live/
- Watch: SECN+
- Live stats: FloridaGators.com
A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …
- Lift the Gators’ overall record to 9-2 this season.
- Extend Florida’s head-to-head mark against South Alabama to 7-3.
- Push the Gators’ streak of consecutive non-conference home victories to 13, marking the eighth-longest run of its kind in program history.
TALE OF THE TAPE
| Florida | So. Alabama | |
|---|---|---|
| 78.2 | PPG | 77.5 |
| 58 | OPP PPG | 63.3 |
| 20.2 | SCORING MARGIN | 14.2 |
| 45.2 | FG % | 46 |
| 36.5 | OPP FG% | 37.8 |
| 27 | 3 FG% | 38.9 |
| 26 | OPP 3 FG% | 24.7 |
| 4.8 | 3FG/G | 7.8 |
| 69.9 | FT % | 64.2 |
| 41.7 | REBOUNDS/G | 40.8 |
| 36.1 | OPP REBOUNDS/G | 33.4 |
| 5.6 | REB MARGIN | 7.4 |
| 12.9 | ASSISTS/G | 16.3 |
| 15.6 | TURNOVER/G | 19.3 |
| 0.83 | A/TO RATIO | 0.84 |
| 11.2 | STEALS/G | 9.9 |
| 4.3 | BLOCKS/G | 4.13 |
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown/Previous School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me'Arah O'Neal | 8 | 6-4 | F | So | Houston Texas |
| Alexia Dizeko | 9 | 5-11 | G | Gr. | Sion, Switzerland |
| Laila Reynolds | 13 | 6-1 | G | Jr. | PG County, Md. |
| Caterina Piatti | 14 | 6-4 | F | Fr. | Scandiano, Italy |
| Liv McGill | 23 | 5-9 | G | So | Minneapolis, Minn. |
GATOR BITES
- Through games played on Thursday, Dec. 4, Florida ranks tied for 11th in the SEC in scoring at 78.2 points per game. The Gators also sit 11th in scoring defense (58.0), 11th in scoring margin (+20.2), and 12th in field goal percentage (.452). Defensively, Florida is ninth in field goal percentage allowed (.365) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.260). The team additionally holds the eighth spot in steals (11.2) and is eighth in turnover margin (+5.50).
- Liv McGill just missed out on her second career triple-double with a 26-point, 9-rebound, 9-assist effort vs. North Florida on Nov. 3. She came up two rebounds shy in the Gators following game against Chattanooga on Nov. 6 with 38 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.
- Liv McGill became the first player in Gators women's basketball history to be named a US Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week on Tuesday, Nov. 11. She averaged 27.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 5.00 steals while connecting on 40.9 percent of her three-point field goal attempts in Florida's three wins. She also was named the SEC Player of the Week for her performance during that same stretch of games.
- Liv McGill was named the most outstanding player of the Grand Cayman Classic over Thanksgiving weekend when she averaged 27.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4,0 assists, 2.00 steals and 1.00 blocked shots.
- Since the 1999-2000 season, only two players in the SEC have recorded three or more games of at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals—Liv McGill (three in the first six games this season) and Ole Miss' Armintie Price (four)
- Me'Arah O'Neal has four double-doubles this season after recording one in her freshman campaign.
PROJECTED SOUTH ALABAMA STARTERS
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown / Previous Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrysta Narcisse | 0 | 6-0 | G | R-So. | Lafayette, La. / Texas Tech |
| Amyah Sutton | 11 | 5-7 | G | Jr. | Oklahoma City, Okla. / New Mexico JC |
| Daniela Gonzalez | 20 | 6-0 | F | Sr. | Jamundi, Columbia / South Florida |
| Cordasia Harris | 22 | 6-1 | F | Gr. | Collirene, Ala. / Bishop State, Alabama State |
| Diawna Carter-Hartley | 25 | 6-1 | F | Jr. | Cincinnati, Ohio / Stetson |
JAGUARS QUICK HITS
- The Jaguars have already won as many games this season (6-2) than they did throughout the entirety of 2024-25 (6-24).
- South Alabama is averaging 77.5 points per game, which would be the highest scoring average for the program since the 1989-90 season (78.1 ppg) should they maintain it.
- The Jaguars were picked to finish 14th in the Sun Belt Conference in the preseason coaches poll
- South Alabama uses a balanced scoring attack with seven players averaging between 6.4 and 13.6 points per game.
