![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/022226-UF-W-Basketball-Alabama-KB-10-300x200.jpg\")
Florida guard Laila Reynolds (13) takes a shot Sunday against Alabama at the O\u2019Connell Center. [Kimberly Blum\/WRUF]<\/p>\nThe O\u2019Dome was roaring late in the third quarter Sunday when Florida women\u2019s basketball ripped off a 12-0 run tp grab its first lead.<\/p>\n
For a few minutes, an upset felt within reach.<\/p>\n
Then No. 25 Alabama (21-7, 7-7 SEC) did what it has done all season. The Crimson Tide buried 3 after 3 to pull away late for a 76-71 win against Florida (16-13, 4-10).<\/p>\n
Alabama came into the matchup leading the SEC in 3-point percentage. The Crimson Tide shot 12 of 23 from 3-point range (52 percent) and 54 percent from the field. All 12 3-pointers came from just two players. Jessica Timmons went 7 of 10 from deep and scored a career-high 34 points. Ta\u2019Mia Scott added 21 points and shot 5 of 8 from 3. They accounted for 55 of Alabama\u2019s points or more than 70 percent of the team\u2019s total. Outside of Timmons and Scott\u2019s scoring barrage, Karly Weathers made an impact with a team-high six rebounds and nine assists.<\/p>\n
Florida, winner of three of its last four games, was searching for its first-ranked victory of the season. The Gators put themselves in position to get it.<\/p>\n
Alabama led by as many as 12 late in the third quarter before the Gators surged ahead over the final four minutes of the period to take a 58-54 lead. Florida won the quarter 26-16 as the sea of orange and blue in the lower bowl rose to its feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur crowd had a huge part to do with that,\u201d Florida coach Kelly Rae Finley said. \u201cIt was electrifying to hear the crowd in big moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The momentum proved short-lived.<\/p>\n
Florida guard Laila Reynolds (13) takes a shot Sunday against Alabama at the O\u2019Connell Center. [Kimberly Blum\/WRUF]<\/p>\n
With the game tied 68-68 and 2:20 remaining, Timmons buried a 3-pointer. She then followed it with an and-one on the next trip to rattle off a quick six points to push Alabama ahead for good. Florida shot 4 of 15 in the fourth and was outscored 22-13 over the final 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cGutsy and gritty road win,\u201d Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. \u201cWe stuck with our game plan down the stretch on both sides of the ball. Karly and Jess\u2019s leadership fueled belief late in a tough environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBig time players make big time plays in big time moments,\u201d Finley added.<\/p>\n
Florida battled foul trouble throughout the afternoon. Laila Reynolds scored 12 points before fouling out, while Caterina Piatti and Me\u2019Arah O\u2019Neal were limited with four fouls each.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had five players who play significant minutes with three fouls or more,\u201d Finley said. \u201cIt created some adversity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were positives for Florida despite the loss. The Gators controlled the interior, outrebounding Alabama 37-28 and winning the points in the paint. Florida\u2019s bench also outscored Alabama\u2019s 26-10 behind 13 points and a season-high eight rebounds from Jade Weathersby, 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from Nyadieng Yiech and a career-high 10 rebounds from K\u2019Nisha Godfrey. Godfrey also provided strong defensive pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cK\u2019Nisha Godfrey is a hustler, she\u2019s a playmaker and most of all she\u2019s a competitor,\u201d Finley said.<\/p>\n
Liv McGill played all 40 minutes and led Florida with 19 points and eight assists, extending her double-digit scoring streak to 29 games. But she struggled at the line, finishing 5 of 13 as Florida went 15 of 25 from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t shoot the ball well from the free-throw line,\u201d Finley said. \u201cThose are freebies.\u201d<\/p>\n
With two games remaining before the SEC Tournament, Florida now turns its focus to No. 17 Ole Miss (21-8, 8-6), which visits Gainesville on Thursday at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cOle Miss is extremely physical,\u201d Finley said. \u201cThey rebound the ball very, very well. They get out in transition and they really pile the ball in the paint. That\u2019s going to be a challenge for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Category: College Basketball<\/a>, Gator Sports<\/a>, Gators Women’s Basketball<\/a>, SEC<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The O\u2019Dome was roaring late in the third quarter Sunday when Florida women\u2019s basketball ripped off a 12-0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[78696,28,30,29,78697,29826,78698,24261,78699,24262,78700,78701,61390,78702,22051],"class_list":["post-165204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-alabama-womens-basketball","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-vs-alabama-womens-basketball","tag-florida-womens-basketball","tag-jessica-timmons","tag-kelly-rae-finley","tag-kristy-curry","tag-liv-mcgill","tag-odome","tag-sec-basketball-standings","tag-sec-womens-basketball","tag-tamia-scott","tag-womens-college-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}