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Final: Wake Forest 73, Florida 68

Despite a fast start on Saturday afternoon, the Gators fell to 8-4 on the season after dropping a 73-68 decision to Wake Forest.

After shooting 53% in the opening half, th Florida offense struggled in the second half making only ten shots from the field.

Florida exited the first quarter trailing 24-21, but rebounded to take a 45-43 lead into the intermission.

The Gators came out of the break sharp and built the lead to as many as 8 with 7:55 remaining in the third period. A quick 9-0 Demon Deacon run quickly negated the lead. Wake Forest would outscore Florida 22-13 for the quarter.

The Gators stayed in the game thanks to a fourth quarter defensive effort that only allowed the Demon Deacons to shoot 2-9 (22%).

A Zada Williams layup brought the Gators within one at 67-66 with 3:03 to play in regulation, but a second chance bucket by Wake’s Gina Conti with 1:48 followed quickly by a steal and layin quickly put the Demon Deacons up by five to seal the win.

Individual Stats:

• Lavender Briggs: career high 23 points, 3 rebounds
• Kiara Smith: 14 points, 5 boards, 3 assists
• Zada Williams: 10 points on 5-6 from the floor, 5 rebounds
• Kristina Moore: 10 points, 4 rebounds
• Brylee Bartram: 9 points on 3-8 from three-point range.

Team Stats:

• FG%: 48
• 3FG%: 36
• FT%: 57
• Reb +/-: -7
• Assists: 10
• TO: 10
• Bench Points: 11

What’s Next:

The Gators have eight days to regroup before taking on Davidson in Gainesville on Sunday, December 29.

The Wildcats are 7-5 on the season after falling to Charlotte on Saturday. In that game, freshman guard Suzi-Rose Deegan scored 30 points. She averages 15.9 on the season for Davidson.