Despite featuring four double-digit scorers, the University of Florida women’s basketball team fell 93-58 to Georgia Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.
Kiki Smith registered a team-high 15 points, finishing in double digits for the sixth time in 11 SEC contests. The sophomore guard knocked down three 3-pointers and hauled in a team-high seven boards but it wasn’t enough as the Gators came up short in the 73rd meeting between the programs.
Florida was unable to slow down the Bulldogs as they finished the game shooting 58.2 percent from the floor. Georgia, which improves to 11-2 at home this season, shot above 50 percent in each of the four quarters.
Funda Nakkasoglu and Delicia Washington each scored 12 while freshman Emanuely de Oliveira, earning her fourth-straight starting nod, finished with a career-high 11 points to round out UF’s quartet of double-digit scorers. Nakkasoglu recorded a double-digit scoring output for the 18th time this season while Washington scored 10 or more for the 12th time.
Washington dished out a team-high four assists as well.
Georgia also featured four in double figures, led by Caliya Robinson who finished with 17.
The Gators hung tough by shooting it effectively from three-point range as they knocked down 11 of their 26 attempts for the game. Florida netted 10 or more three-pointers for the fourth time during SEC play and the eighth time overall.
Florida trailed 11-3 at the first quarter media timeout as Robinson ran her tally up to nine in just the first five minutes. Smith connected on a three-pointer to shrink the Georgia lead to 11-6, but the Bulldogs utilized an 8-0 run to jump ahead 19-6. Smith scored Florida’s last seven points of the quarter but UF faced a 23-10 deficit at the end of the first period.
At the 9:36 mark of the second quarter, Nakkasoglu swished a three-pointer to make the score 25-13. Following the redshirt-senior’s triple, Florida would go without a field goal for nearly seven minutes as Washington’s basket with 2:41 on the clock snapped the spell. UGA built a lead as large as 24 when it led 40-16 with under three minutes to play, but the Gators fought back to make four of their last five shots and trim the deficit to 44-27 heading into the half.
Smith checked in with 10 points at the break to pace the Gators. Florida’s success shooting the three-pointer kept them within striking distance as it connected on six of its 11 long-range attempts in the first half. The Bulldogs scored 13 points off Florida’s 12 first half turnovers.
Florida trailed 69-44 heading into the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs scored six-straight points to close the third period. Nakkasoglu scored six points in the stanza but Georgia added to its lead by shooting 12-of-20 from the floor.
Georgia’s hot shooting spilled over into the fourth period as the Bulldogs outscored Florida 24-14.
The freshman de Oliveira knocked down a career-best three 3-pointers for the game.
Up Next
Sunday, Feb. 17 | 2 p.m.
Florida (6-17, 2-9) vs. No. 12 South Carolina (17-5, 9-1)
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Notables
- Thursday marked the 73rd meeting between the Gators and Bulldogs.
- Emanuely de Oliveira, finished with a career-high 11 points and knocked down a career-high three 3-pointers. She scored Florida’s first basket on a three-pointer from the top of the key and it marked her fifth-straight game with a made trey.
- Funda Nakkasoglu has knocked down at least one three-pointer in 22 of the 24 games she has played this season.
- Smith notched her ninth double figure scoring game on the season and knocked down three or more three-pointers for the third time this season.
- Smith has six games with 10 or more in league play.
- Smith led the team in scoring for the third time this season.
- Florida finished with double-digit three-pointers for the eighth time this season and fourth time in its 11 SEC contests.
- Florida featured four in double figures for the fifth time this season.
- Nakkasoglu, Washington, de Oliveira and Smith all knocked down multiple three-pointers.
Quotables
Head Coach Cam Newbauer
“On the team’s performance and going up against Georgia…
“Today we faced a very tough and determined Georgia team on the road. Playing on the road is challenging at every level of basketball but especially in a league like the SEC. I’m proud of the way we fought, but we need to be more aggressive at the start of the game. Kiki (Smith) played really well and I was pleased with the way we shot the ball from three. We will learn from this and get back to practice next week with more energy and focus.
Our girls stepped it up at the end of the first quarter, they started playing a little more aggressively. We need more people to come out of the gates with that aggressiveness. We are just a really young and inexperienced team. I hate saying that all the time, but you look at Georgia and see that they are 4-5 in the SEC. Our team thought they were a 4-5 team but they are not a 4-5 team. Georgia is a very very good team, they came off a week off and they have kids that play really hard. They just played harder than us everywhere today.”
On the team’s slow start…Â
“We wanted to come out of the gates being super aggressive and we did not do anything that we talked about doing at the beginning of the game. It was strange, we were not focused, we were not locked in to this game at all. This is a tough one to swallow they just came at us in every aspect.”
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