UF Women’s Basketball Team Loses At No. 7 LSU

There is no other way to put it. Sunday was a bad day in Baton Rouge for the Gators.

Final from Baton Rouge. #GoGators | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/HiSwd91rrD

— Gators Women’s Basketball (@GatorsWBK) February 4, 2024

The Florida Gators women’s basketball team were dominated by No. 7 LSU, 106-66. The 40-point win by the Tigers (19-4, 6-3 SEC) marks the lost amount of points scored against an SEC opponent for the program and their third victory in a row against Florida (11-9, 2-6). LSU leads the series 32-16.

Hailey Van Lith and Mikaylah Williams led the way for LSU with 21 points each. Aliyah Matharu had 20 points for the Gators.

Over From The Jump

Florida was counted out even before the tip.

But things got interesting to start the game when the Gators went on a 6-0 run for a 6-2 lead. However, that would mark the beginning of the end for UF, as LSU went on a 22-5 run to close out the quarter.

https://twitter.com/LSUwbkb/status/1754225273564967172

The Tigers jumped excelled on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they shot 53.8% (8-15) in Q1. Where defensively, LSU held Florida to 29.4% (5-17) shooting by swarming on defense and contesting almost every single shot.

https://twitter.com/LSUwbkb/status/1754224226062795099

In the second quarter, things started to get out of hand when the Gators were not able to breathe offensively. Defensive pressure from the Tigers led to sloppy turnovers that turned into points.

But one of the biggest contributors to stretching out the lead even more in Q2 was LSU’s ability to get to the line. Compared to Florida’s three free-throw attempts in the first half, the Tigers were able to get to the line 15 times and make 11 of those shots. Similarly, the Tigers went to the line 19 times, while the Gators 10 in the second half.

At halftime, LSU was up 54-28.

Did Not Get Prettier

After going down 26 points, things did not get any better for the Gators.

https://twitter.com/LSUwbkb/status/1754238591360975004

In quarter three, Florida would hold their own offensively to start. But scoring does not matter if you cannot stop the other team.

LSU practically shot lights out in this game by going 49.3% from the field and 46.7% from 3. The way LSU was able to get such high efficiency in scoring was through rebounding.

Aneesah Morrow took over the glass by getting 20 rebounds and 18 points. LSU out rebounded the Gators 59-34.

More times than not, when you get more boards, you get more points. A huge difference in this one was how the Gators only had four second-chance points, while the Tigers had 24.

https://twitter.com/LSUwbkb/status/1754249309279948817

At the end of the Q3, the score was 80-43.

Up Next

The Gators next play Thursday when they host Arkansas starting at 6 p.m. on ESPN Gainesville 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.