As NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal watched on in support of his daughter and her squad, the Florida Gators women’s basketball team drew exclamations and roars from one of their largest crowds so far this season as UF secured its third consecutive win.
After falling short against the Thundering Herd last season, Florida (6-4) defeated Marshall (3-5) 82-63 at the Stephen O’Connell Center on Sunday afternoon.
Entering the weekend at No. 1 in the SEC and No. 10 in the country in team field goal percentage (49.8%), Florida shot 50.8% from the field on Saturday compared to Marshall’s 32.4%.
The Gators took complete control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Thundering Herd 27-8 in that span following an 18-18 draw in the first quarter.
“[We] just play our basketball,” said head coach Kelly Rae Finley. “For us, it’s a work in progress to make that translate consistently over 40 minutes every night.”
UF senior center Ra Shaya Kyle led the Gators with 16 points and 11 rebounds, marking her sixth double-double of the season and putting her in the top 10 in double-doubles nationwide this season.
“I do have [double-doubles] in my mind,” Kyle said. “That’s just the goal that I’ve set for myself this year,” said Kyle. “Like I said, coming off the injury or whatever, that’s just the goal I have set for myself.”
Senior forward Eriny Kindred also had a standout performance that saw her reach a career-high of 13 points. Kindred shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line to help keep the Gators in front as the game went on.
In the second quarter, Florida had 23 rebounds over Marshall’s 19, an improvement from the first quarter where Marshall outrebounded UF by three. Kyle was the main contributor with a team-high of nine rebounds going into the halftime break.
”It feels really great,” Kyle said. “But like I said last time, my teammates and coaches are a big part of that. They have my back through the whole way.”
Freshman wing Me’Arah O’Neal also had multiple highlight-worthy plays that drew some big reactions from the home crowd. O’Neal used every inch of her 6’4 frame to defend the rim with a powerful block at 7:47 in the second quarter. She showed up today in front of her father to carve her own legacy, tying for second on the team in rebounds (6) and scoring a key three-pointer before scoring on a physical finish at the hoop that got the home crowd going.
For the remainder of the game, Florida slowed down its pace but remained in control.
In the third quarter, both Florida and Marshall scored 16 points, but the Gators still had a comfortable 19-point lead to hold them over into the final 10 minutes of play.
All of this came in spite of a lackluster performance from freshman guard Liv McGill, who had hit double-figure scoring in eight of her last nine outings. McGill finished the game with just eight points and seven turnovers, although she did lead the Gators with nine assists as well.
“ I thought our post group has really, our forward group, has really embraced our substitution pattern, being fresh, understanding that four is better than one,” Finley said. “I think we’re really kind of settling into understanding who does what, and that if it’s not my night, it can be her night, whoever her is.”
Senior guard Kenza Salgues helped close out the game with 11 points and 4-of-6 shooting on field goals (including 3-of-5 from three-point range). Junior forward Alexia Gassett also scored eight of her 10 points in the second half to keep the Gators comfortably in front until the final whistle.
With SEC play looming in the next couple weeks, this victory keeps Florida steadfast on putting its best foot forward.
“I think we just want to take it one game at a time, but I think that we want to win, obviously,” Kyle said. “So, I would say win would be the goal and I mean, just get better each and every game.”
Florida will next take on Longwood University (6-4) in another home match at the Stephen C O’Connell Center on Dec. 15 at 12 p.m.
Contact Amanda Roman at aroman@alligator.org. Follow her on X @mandy_romannn
Amanda Roman is a sophomore sports journalism major and The Alligator's Fall 2024 Soccer Reporter. She interned for Fort Lauderdale United FC this past summer as the team's journalist. In her free time, she enjoys lifting, shopping and reading.
