Kiara Smith brought the heat on a chilly Monday night in Gainesville, as the senior point guard dropped a career-high 27 points en route to a 88-76 Gator victory over FAU.
The Maryland native was predictably efficient and scored at every level, switching between acrobatic layups, long-range bombs and productive trips to the foul line. Not to be outworked, Smith also tacked on eleven rebounds and two steals for her second double-double on the year.
“I like to attack,” Smith said. “So just having the versatility to go out there and, if they take one thing away from me I can do something else, it’s really important.”
Smith opened the scoring with a three-ball just 30 seconds into the game, but an 11-5 run from FAU left Florida trailing at the first media timeout. Lavender Briggs quickly restored UF’s advantage while crossing an impressive personal milestone. The sophomore guard became the fastest UF player to break the 500-point threshold since WNBA draft pick Sha Brooks in 2006.
Smith and Jordyn Meritt later combined to power a 7-0 Florida that extended UF’s lead after the first quarter, an advantage it would never relinquish the rest of the game.
After making a brief cameo against Florida State, Miami transfer Yasmeen Chang impressed in her first extended appearance in the Orange and Blue. The five-foot-nine-inch sophomore thrived as a spark plug off the bench, scoring eleven points in eleven minutes on 5-8 shooting.
"If you watch tonight you say that she is aggressive and attacks the rim,” Newbauer said on what Gator nation should expect of Chang. “She can shoot the three as well – she spends a lot of time in the gym working on her shot”
Florida was dominant in the second quarter, quickly opening a double-digit lead while harassing FAU in the backcourt. A steal and score from Chang followed by an and-one conversion from Meritt gave the Gators its largest lead of the game, 42-24, in the closing seconds of the half.
Iggy Allen, the former Mississippi State and Miami transfer, showed off her Power 5 pedigree by clawing Florida Atlantic back into the game. The redshirt senior scored seven points in just over a minute, capping off her outburst with a three-pointer that cut UF’s lead to seven.
"Allen is a big-time player, playing with a bit of a chip on her shoulder, Newbauer said. “This was a challenge that I'm glad we had to face tonight in order to figure out the resolve we play with."
Florida promptly stopped any comeback talk in its tracks, as a pullup jumper from Briggs, a three-ball from sophomore Nina Rickards and two free-throws from Smith grew UF’s advantage back to 15.
UF kept the Owls at arms-length in the fourth quarter and iced the game away, a process that has become much easier with Florida’s drastic improvement at the foul line. The Gators shot 73% percent at the line and have managed similar numbers all this season, compared to just 59% last year.
The Gators now improve to 4-1 on the year and ride a three-game winning streak into a Wednesday night matchup away at UNC Asheville. Fans can catch the game live at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
Contact Declan Walsh at dwalsh@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @dawalsh_UF.
