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FINAL: FLORIDA 58, MISSOURI 56

Gainesville, FL– The Florida Gators earned their first conference win with a come from behind effort that was capped by a Delicia Washington driving layup as the time expired on Sunday.

Florida moves to 5-12 overall on the season and 1-3 in SEC action. Missouri suffered their first conference loss of the season and fell to 14-4 for the year.

Game Trends

The Gators got off to a slow start and trailed 30-21 at half. The Gators shot 35% from the field and made 3-9 from beyond the three-point line.

The Tigers led by as many as 14 (41-27) with 5:40 to play in the third period, but the Gators would claw back. By the end of the period, Florida only trailed by nine (45-36).

Mizzou raced out to an 8-5 advantage in the fourth frame before the Gators changed the momentum.

Danielle Rainey hit a three-pointer to push Florida to within nine. Zada Williams and Delicia Washington each hit a pair of free-throws to bring the Gators within five points.

Sophie Cunningham hit a layup with 3:28 remaining that would prove to be the Tigers last made field goal. A free-throw from Cierra Porter put Mizzou up 56-48 with 2:48 in regulation.

Freshman Ariel Johnson knocked down a trey with 2:30 left in the game. Johnson also assisted on Washington’s layup with 1:27 remaining. Florida had closed the gap to two (56-54).

Kiki Smith forced a foul on Cunningham and made both of her shots from the charity stripe to tie the game with :47 remaining.

Washington stole the ball from Hailey Troup and went on to make the final layup to seal the victory for the Gators.

Fast Facts

• Danielle Rainey finished with a career high 16 points on 5-11 from the floor.

• Delicia Washington added 11 points for Florida and made 5-7 from the charity stripe.

• Kiki Smith finished with 10 points on 3-4 from.the field.

• Missouri defended UF leading scorer Funda Nakkasoglu extremely tight, oftentimes double-teaming her, forcing her into a 1-6 game from the field and only two points.

• Florida only turned the ball over 11 times and forced the Tigers into 12.

TEAM STATS:

What’s Next

The Gators will travel to Oxford, Mississippi to face the Rebels of Ole Miss on Sunday 1/20. Mississippi is 7-11 on the season and 1-3 in conference play under new head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. The Rebels did upset #16 Kentucky on the road with a fourth quarter comeback on Sunday for their first conference victory.