GREENVILLE, S.C. — The madness begins in earnest this week as the Florida Women’s Basketball Team sets its collective sights on an SEC Tournament title, and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators’ quest begins Wednesday, March 4 with a 1:30 p.m. EST tip against 13-seed Mississippi State at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Florida earned the 12 seed in the conference tournament after winning four of its final seven games of the regular season, including a 74-67 victory over No/ 19/20 Ole Miss. The Gators’ three losses down the stretch all came against top-25 competition — 81-74 at No. 10/10 Oklahoma, 76-71 vs. No. 25/24 Alabama and 71-58 at No. 23/24 Georgia.
Sophomore Liv McGill is averaging 22.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists on the season, and is in the running for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year award. The SEC is announcing its All-SEC Teams on Tuesday, March 3, and should McGill make the First Team, she would be the first member of the Gators to earn that honor since Kiara Smith picked up a first-team nod in the 2021-22 season.
Me’Arah O’Neal is averaging 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds against SEC opponents, while connecting on 53.1 percent of her field goal attempts and 41.5 percent from beyond the arc. Laila Reynolds is the other member of Florida’s “Big “Three,” and she is averaging 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.38 steals in conference play.
Mississippi State lost four straight to close out the regular season as the Bulldogs look to make the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season and third time in four years.
Under Head Coach Sam Purcell’s tutelage, Mississippi State has one of the most balanced offensive scoring attacks in the league with seven players averaging between 8.3 and 13.4 points per game led by freshman forward Madison Francis. Against conference competition, the team’s top six scorers average between 6.3 and 13.6 points.
Favour Nwaedozi and Francis rank fourth and seventh in the SEC against conference opponents in rebounds per game at 9.4 and 8.2 respectively, and Francis is blocking 2.44 shots per game against conference foes which is the second highest average in the SEC.
The Bulldogs struggle offensively and defensively beyond the arc connecting on 28.6 percent of their shots from distance against conference opponents (14th in the SEC), and allow league foes to make 34.9 percent of their three balls (16th).
The Gators are 29-28 all-time against the Bulldogs, and have won three straight games in the series including a 71-56 road win on Feb. 19 of this year. Florida led by 10 at the end of the first quarter, and never trailed after that. Liv McGill scored a game-high 30 points, while Laila Reynolds added 19, and Me’Arah O’Neal chipped in 10.
MISSISSIPPI STATE (18-12, 5-11)
A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …
Improve the Gators’ record to 18-14 overall on the year
Improve Florida’s SEC Tournament record to 6-4 in the Kelly Rae Finley era.
Improve the Gator’s record to 30-28 all-time against Mississippi State, and be the team’s fourth straight victory in the series.
Improve Florida’s record to 3-0 on neutral courts this season.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Florida
Mississippi St.
73.1
PPG
75.1
66.3
OPP PPG
66.5
+6.9
SCORING MARGIN
+8.6
44.9
FG %
44.2
40.2
OPP FG%
40.3
28.6
3 FG%
32.0
30.0
OPP 3 FG%
32.3
5.3
3FG/G
5.9
69.6
FT %
72.9
37.5
REBOUNDS/G
42.0
36.3
OPP REBOUNDS/G
33.4
+1.3
REB MARGIN
+8.7
13.3
ASSISTS/G
14.1
16.7
TURNOVER/G
15.5
+0.79
A/TO RATIO
+0.91
9.5
STEALS/G
8.2
3.84
BLOCKS/G
4.70
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
GATOR BITES
During the regular season, Florida ranked … 12th in the SEC in points per game (73.2) … 10th in scoring defense (66.3) … 12th in scoring margin (+6.87) … seventh in field goal percentage (.449) … 9th in field goal percentage defense (.402) … 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.286) … seventh in three-point field goal percentage defense (.300) … 13th in free throw percentage (.696) … 10th in offensive rebound percentage (.341) … 13th in defensive rebound percentage (.664) … 12th in assists (13.3) … eighth in steals (9.45) … 10th in blocked shots (3.84).
In SEC games, Florida is tied for 10th in scoring (68.8) … 12th in scoring defense (73.8) … fifth in field goal percentage (.439) … ninth in field goal percentage defense (.437) … seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.317) … and 10th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.322).
The Gators have held 19 of 31 opponents below 70 points this season, and nine opponents below 60 points.
Florida is 31st in the nation in free throws made per game (14.7), and 27th in free throw attempts per game (21.1) through games of Sunday, Mar. 1.
Florida’s NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, is No. 50 through games of Sunday, Mar. 1.
Liv McGill became the 28th player in Florida Women’s Basketball history to score 1,000 points in her career when she connected on a free throw line jumper in the second quarter Jan. 11 at Auburn. She is now in 20th place with 1,258 career points.
Liv McGill was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Mid-Season List along with Kentucky’s Tonie Morgan, NC State’s Zoe Brooks, Nebraska’s Britt Prince, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Oklahoma’s Aaliyah Chavez, South Carolina’s Raven Johnson, TCU’s Olivia Miles, Texas’ Rori Harmon, and UCLA’s Kiki Rice.
Liv McGill and Me’Arah O’Neal have each earned SEC Player of the Week honors this season.
Liv McGill became the first player in Gators women’s basketball history to be named a US Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week on Tuesday, Nov. 11. She averaged 27.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 5.00 steals while connecting on 40.9 percent of her three-point field goal attempts in Florida’s three wins. She also was named the SEC Player of the Week for her performance during that same stretch of games.
Liv McGill was named the most outstanding player of the Grand Cayman Classic over Thanksgiving weekend when she averaged 27.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.00 steals and 1.00 blocked shots.
Liv McGill has three games this season of at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. The other 4,500-+ players competing in women’s basketball at the Division I level have 15 games with 25-5-5-5.
PROJECTED MISSISSIPPI STATE STARTERS
No.
Ht.
Pos.
Class
Hometown / Previous Schools
Trayanna Crisp
4
5-8
G
Sr.
Goodyear, Ariz. / North Carolina, Arizona State
Jaylah Lampley
10
6-1
G
Fr.
Fishers, Ind. /
Favour Nwaedozi
25
6-3
F
Jr.
Delta, Nigeria /
Kharyssa Richardson
33
6-2
F
Sr.
Douglasville, Ga. / Ole Miss, Auburn
Madison Francis
40
6-2
F
Fr.
Lancaster, N.Y. /
BULLDOGS QUICK HITS
Members of the media tabbed Mississippi State to finish 10th in the SEC this season, while the coaches picked the Bulldogs to finish 12th.
Mississippi State has won 20 or more games in each of the past three seasons, and made two trips to the NCAA Tournament as a nine seed (2024-25) and an 11 seed (2022-23)
The Bulldogs went 13-1 in non-conference play with the team’s lone loss coming at Texas Tech (69-62).
Mississippi State is the fourth best defensive rebounding team in the SEC against conference competition (.719 DReb%), and the seventh best offensive rebounding team (.337 OReb%).
The Bulldogs are ranked 14th in the conference against SEC opponents in three-point field goal percentage (.386), and 16th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.349)
The Bulldogs have one of the most balanced offensive scoring attacks in the league with seven players averaging between 8.3 and 13.4 points per game led by freshman forward Madison Francis. Against conference competition, the team’s top six scorers average between 6.3 and 13.6 points.
Favour Nwaedozi and Madison Francis rank fourth and seventh in the SEC against conference opponents in rebounds per game at 9.4 and 8.2 respectively.
Madison Francis is blocking 2.44 shots per game against conference foes which is the second highest average in the SEC.
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