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The Florida women’s basketball team team fell to the Tennessee Lady Vols, 88-81, on Thursday evening in the Thompson-Boling arena in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Entering into SEC play, the Gators (9-6, 0-3 SEC) have struggled and are yet to take home a win on the road. Earlier this week, the Gators fell to Vanderbilt in another close match up and prior to that fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks at home.
How it Happened
Until the later minutes of the game, the Gators were able to compete with the Lady Volunteers as the contest was pretty evenly contested.
The Lady Vols led early but Florida took a 21-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Florida’s offense was led by Zippy Broughton.
https://twitter.com/GatorsWBK/status/1745605898666709462
With her help, the Gators were able to take a 12 point lead at 35-23. From there, the Volunteers (10-5, 3-0) were able to put their offense to work, as Tennessee’s Jewel Spear put up nine points to help Tennessee tie the game at 43-43 at halftime.
After the half, both teams were struggling to perform offensively. Only a total of five points were scored in the first three minutes of play in the third quarter.
The Gators held the lead two times, but in the final minutes of the third quarter, the Volunteers were able to take the lead and finish out the quarter with a four-point lead, 63-59.
At the start of the final quarter, the Volunteers secured a comfortable lead as they started off strong offensively with a four-point run and never looked back. Tennessee scored 25 points in the final quarter to get the win.
Tonight's final. #GoGators | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/hAminA1iaC
— Gators Women’s Basketball (@GatorsWBK) January 12, 2024
Leading Scorers
The Gators were without senior Ra Shaya Kyle, who has been an offensive force but Aliayah Matharu tallied up 23 points for the Gators to lead the team on the night.
As for the Volunteers, guard Jewel Spear led the team with 20 points, the same total scored by Sara Puckett as well.
Up Next
The Gators return to their home court at 2 p.m. Sunday (ESPN Gainesville 98.1-FM/850-AM) to face the Georgia Bulldogs (10-6, 1-2). The Bulldogs are coming off a loss against Alabama.
