GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Only six teams in Florida women’s basketball history have started the season with wins in each of their first four games, and the 2025-26 version of the Gators is angling to become the seventh when they host Samford this Thursday, Nov. 13. Tip at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center is at 7 p.m. EST.
 
The 2019-20 Gators are the last team to begin a season with a 4-0 record. Before that, you have to go back to the 2000-01 campaign when that version of the Florida Women’s Basketball team went on to win nine straight before dropping a decision. That tied the program record for most consecutive wins to open a season originally set by the 1983-84 Gators and later matched by the 1984-85 and 1995-96 squads. The only other time in program history a team started the season 4-0 was in 1997-98, but their streak was snapped at four.
 
Sophomore point guard Liv McGill is coming off of one of the most impressive individual starts to a season in program history as she averaged 27.7 points, 7.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals en route to the US Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week award, and the SEC Player of the Week award.
 
Through games played Monday, Nov. 10, McGill ranked fourth among all NCAA Division I players in scoring, tied for 20th in assists per game, and tied for 10th in steals per game. She leads the SEC in scoring average, is tied for fourth in assists per game, while ranking second in steals per game, and tied for second in made three-pointers per game.

She is far from a one-woman show, however, as sophomore forward Me’Arah O’Neal has posted three consecutive double-doubles to start the year, and is averaging 16.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.67 blocks while connecting on 60.0 percent of her field goal attempts.

 

Junior guard Laila Reynolds is averaging 13.7 points and 3.00 steals per game, and vs. Jacksonville on Nov. 10, she established career highs from the free throw line by going 10 for 10 from the charity stripe.

 

Thursday’s game is a homecoming of sorts for Samford Head Coach Matt Wise as his mother was the legendary head coach of the Gators volleyball team for 34 seasons, and he, himself, was a graduate assistant with the Florida Men’s Basketball team during two of the Gators back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in the early 2010s

 

The Bulldogs are 1-1 on the season with a season-opening, 75-53 win over Montevallo, and an 80-46 loss at Nebraska on their ledger.

 

Sophomore guard Briana Rivera leads Samford in scoring at a 16.0 points per game clip, while center redshirt senior Emily Snoddy (nee Bowman) and freshman forward Carla Baguda are the team’s leading rebounding with 9.0 and 8.5 rebounds per game respectively.

Samford (1-1)

A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …

• Improve the Gators record to 4-0 on the season, and 19-2 at home in the month of November during the Kelly Rae Finley era.
• Mark the first time since 2000-01 that the Gators began the season with a 4-0 record. That 2000-01 squad went on to win nine straight before dropping a decision. That tied the program record for most consecutive wins to start a season, originally set by the 1983-84 Gators and later matched by the 1984-85 and 1995-96 versions.
• Improve the Gators record against the Bulldogs to 3-0.

TALE OF THE TAPE

Florida		Samford
96.7	PPG	60.5
56.3	OPP PPG	66.5
+40.3	SCORING MARGIN	-6.0
52.5	FG %	36.4
37.7	OPP FG%	32.5
28.6	3 FG%	30.6
33.3	OPP 3 FG%	31.1
6.0	3FG/G	9.5
69.7	FT %	80.0
43.3	REBOUNDS/G	39.5
29.7	OPP REBOUNDS/G	33.5
+13.6	REB MARGIN	+6.0
16.3	ASSISTS/G	11.0
14.3	TURNOVER/G	21.5
+1.14	A/TO RATIO	+0.51
15.3	STEALS/G	9.0
2.67	BLOCKS/G	3.50

THE SERIES
The Gators are 2-0 against Samford.

GATORS vs. BULLDOGS HISTORY

Florida is 2-0 all-time against the Bulldogs, with their most recent victory coming in an 84-48 decision on Nov. 16, 2019. The Gators were led by Lavender Briggs who posted a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double. Kiara Smith (18 points), Ariel Johnson (15) and Kristina Moore (11) also scored in double figures for Florida. All 10 players who checked in for the Gators dented both the scoring and rebounding columns in the stat sheet that night.

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS

 
GATOR BITES

• Through games of Tuesday, Nov. 11, Florida ranks fourth in the SEC this season in scoring margin (+40.3), fourth in field goal percentage (.525), sixth in rebound margin (+13.7),  tied for third in steals (15.3), third in turnover margin (+15.3), and fifth in defensive rebound percentage (.755).
• Liv McGill just missed out on her second career triple-double with a 26-point, 9-rebound, 9-assist effort vs. North Florida on Nov. 3. She came up two rebounds shy in the Gators following game against Chattanooga on Nov. 6 with 38 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.
• 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’s 611 points a year ago were the third most in the nation among freshman and set a Florida program record for freshmen.
• Liv McGill has reached double figures in 36 of her 40 outings at Florida.
• Laila Reynolds was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line on Nov. 10 vs. Jacksonville.
• Me’Arah O’Neal has three double-doubles this season after recording one in her freshman campaign.

PROJECTED SAMFORD STARTERS

Tennessee	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown/Previous School
Jada Knight	1	5-7	G	Gr.	Hoover, Ala.
Francie Morris	5	5-9	G	Fr.	Montgomery, Ala.
Aubury Blankenship	10	6-0	F	R-So.	Mount Juliet, Tenn.
Brianna Rivera	11	5-5	G	So.	Orlando, Fla.
Emily Snoddy (Bowman)	44	6-5	C	R-Sr.	Huntsville, Ala.

 
SAMFORD QUICK HITS

• The Bulldogs welcome seven new players to the 2025-26 roster. Transfers Briana Riverai (Austin Peay) and Sydney Martin (Northern Kentucky University) join freshmen signees Avary Brewer, Kaylee Yarbrough, Camryn Register, Francie Morris and Carla Baguda.
• Emily Snoddy (nee, Bowman) was named to the Southern Conference All-Defensive Team a year ago, and to the preseason All-Southern Conference Team prior to the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
• Martha Bishop is a dual-sport athlete for the Bulldogs. Not only is she a forward for the women’s basketball team, but she also helped Samford to the Southern Conference regular season women’s soccer championship.

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