Florida Women’s Basketball to Play Purdue in Baha Mar Tournament

The Florida Gators (3-1) are in Nassau, Bahamas, to take on the Purdue Boilermakers (2-1) in the first game of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship tournament. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.

https://twitter.com/GatorsWBK/status/1726627456365564311

Previous Game

Florida suffered a tough loss to No. 12 Florida State (3-0) at home on Friday. Handing the Gators their first loss of the season, the Seminoles ultimately edged the Gators 79-75.

However, it was a hard-fought battle. Freshman Laila Reynolds sunk three-point shot late in the first quarter to spark a 12-point scoring run for the Gators to end the first. The Gators headed into the locker room with a 36-35 lead thanks to a three-pointer from Aliyah Matharu.

In the second half, the Gators maintained their lead. With 16 rebounds in the third quarter and a 56-49 lead, Florida was confident going into the fourth quarter. However, after leading by nine in the fourth, the Gators’ lead quickly started to diminish. FSU tied the game with two minutes left to play and ultimately rallied to a 79-75 victory.

Final.

Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/Kju01eUvVq

— Gators Women’s Basketball (@GatorsWBK) November 17, 2023

Last Meeting

The Boilermakers hold a 3-o record all time over the Gators. The two teams met three times in the 1990s, with Purdue coming away with a win in all three meetings.

The last meeting, which took place on Nov. 26, 1999, resulted in a 90-50 Purdue win.

Preview

Florida is coming off a tough 79-75 loss to No. 12 FSU. The Gators are averaging 83 points and 42.3 rebounds per game. Four players are averaging in double-digit points per game with Aliyah Matharu leading the team with 19.3 points per game.

Purdue is on a two-game winning streak after beating Texas A&M 72-58 and Southern University 67-50. The Boilermakers are averaging 62.7 points and 32.3 rebound per game. In addition, both Abbey Ellis and Caitlyn Harper are averaging double-digit points per game with 14.7 and 11.3 respectively.

Next Up

The Gators and Boilermakers will compete this afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas.

On Wednesday, Florida is set to play Columbia at 1:30 p.m., and Purdue will play Georgia at 4 p.m.