College basketball can be a cruel sport. Just three days after dismantling the Missouri Tigers in an all-around dominant home victory on Thursday evening, the Florida Gators women’s basketball team saw the tables turn on them, suffering a brutal road loss at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Gators (14-12, 5-9 SEC) were defeated by the Bulldogs (12-15, 3-11 SEC) in a 76-60 loss, Sunday afternoon. Georgia took a 22-point lead into the halftime break and went on cruise control for the remainder of the game to swiftly leave Florida in the dust.
Senior guard Leilani Correa led the Gators with 21 points and four rebounds, while fellow senior guard Zippy Broughton chipped in with 11 points. Florida floor general and senior guard Aliyah Matharu struggled to get going offensively, only scoring nine points while shooting 3-for-13 from the field.
For the Bulldogs, senior forward Javyn Nicholson exploded for 26 points and 12 rebounds. Georgia senior forward Jordan Cole and junior guard De’Mauri Flournoy each tacked on 14 points, with the forward also collecting 11 rebounds for a double-double.
The Gators managed to hang with the Bulldogs in the opening minutes. At one point, Florida cut Georgia’s early lead to 8-7 with 6:09 to go in the first quarter. From there, however, the Bulldogs fully took over.
UGA finished off the period on a 13-6 run, jumping out to a 21-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. From there, the Bulldogs kept piling on, at one point taking off on another 11-3 run to grow their lead to as many as 21 points. After some brief resistance from the Gators, Georgia closed out the first half with six unanswered points to take a 47-25 lead.
In the second half, the Gators could not find a way to piece together a response. For every move Florida made, Georgia always stood two steps ahead.
Even with the Bulldogs already coasting to the finish line, the Gators could not find a way to claw back into the game, as they trailed by 15 or more for the entire third quarter.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Florida finally found its rhythm. Though, it was too late. The Gators outscored the Bulldogs 18-11 in the final 10 minutes of play but to no avail. By the time the final buzzer rang, the game had already been long over.
Next, UF will travel to Tuscaloosa for a matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide on Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Contact Jack Meyer at jmeyer@alligator.org. Follow him on X @jackmeyerUF.
Jack Meyer is a fourth-year journalism major and the Assistant Sports Editor for The Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys reviewing music, spending time with friends, playing video games and going to the gym.
