ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Florida Women’s Basketball team was without the services of point guard Liv McGill, Sunday, and despite a 19-point homecoming performance from local product Laila Reynolds, the Gators fell to Navy, 69-54.

KEY RUNS

1st Quarter (Gators 18, Midshipmen 18)

• Me’Arah O’Neal’s three pointer on the Gators’ first possession of the afternoon started the scoring, but Florida missed its next six shots and committed a pair of turnovers as the Midshipmen went up 13-3. O’Neal ended the Navy run with a layup with 4:26 remaining in the period, which jump-started a 13-0 Gators’ run of their own. Navy’s Zoe Mesuch led all scorers with nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc.

2nd Quarter (Midshipmen 39, Gators 31)

• Navy extended its lead to as many as six early in the second, but a 7-0 Florida run put the Gators back on top, 29-28, with 4:20 on the clock. The Midshipmen scored 11 of the final 13 points of the period to enter the locker room with a nine-point advantage. Navy made 7 of 14 shots in the stanza including four of seven from three-point range. The Gators were just four from 12 from the field, and two of eight from distance.

3rd Quarter (Midshipmen 53, Gators 37)

• Navy scored the first six points coming out of the break to extend its lead to 14, 45-31 as Florida misfired on its first seven shots. Laila Reynolds ended the Midshipmen run with a jumper with 6:13 on the clock, but an 8-0 Navy run later in the quarter gave the Midshipmen an 18-point advantage.

4th Quarter (Midshipmen 69, Gators 54)

• The Gators turned up the defensive pressure to try to get back into the game forcing seven turnovers in the final 10 minutes. An old-fashioned Reynolds three-point play reduced the Navy advantage to nine, with 2:55 to go, but that was as close as Florida would get.

KEY STATS

• Navy made 10 of 22 shots from three-point range, while Florida made 5 of 26. Prior to today, the Gators hadn’t allowed an opponent to make more than six three balls in a game all season.
• The Midshipmen outshot the Gators from the field, 47.1% (24-51) to 28.8% (19-66).
• Navy outrebounded Florida 47-37, but the Gators won the battle of the offensive glass, 17-12.
• Florida forced the Midshipmen into 22 turnovers which the Gators flipped into 14 points. Meanwhile, Navy scored 21 points off of 13 Florida miscues.
• The Gators outscored the Midshipmen 8-0 in fast break points, and 19-8 of the bench.
• Florida entered the game averaging 94.3 points per game, but were held to 54 on the day. 

FROM THE GATORS’ MOUTHS

• Coach Finley on Liv McGill’s status for Thursday against Florida State… “Right now, Liv is day to day. We’re going to continue to evaluate her, and see where we are.”
• Coach Finley on playing without Liv McGill … “I thought we were able to get into what we wanted to get into. Our outside shots weren’t falling. We shot the ball really well in practice the last couple of days, including yesterday in their arena. But we weren’t finishing inside today either, and when the shots aren’t falling it makes it really tough on your defense. Defensively, we could have been quite a bit stronger. We missed quite a few defensive assignments. But we’re young, we’re learning, it’s early in the season, and Navy is a incredibly difficult team to play against, especially on the road. They were picked to win their league for a reason. They are very strong. They’re disciplined. And they’re tough. I thought that Laila did an exceptionally good job at the point for us. She was still able to play off ball, and on ball get us into what we needed to get into. We’ll look at the film. And we get back to work, we evaluate what we need to do, and what we need to improve upon.”
• Coach Finley on Navy’s success from three-point range … “I thought that they hit some really tough shots. Our fade coverage wasn’t optimal, maybe we needed a little earlier communication, and they hit some tough shots with a hand in the face.”

GATOR BITES

• The Gators are now 2-1 all-time against Navy.
• Florida was without the services of Liv McGill who sat out the game with an injury.
• Me’Arah O’Neal scored in double figures for the fifth straight game this season, and the seventh time in her career (14 points).
• Laila Reynolds scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, and the 30th time in her career (19 points). She also played a career-high 40 minutes, and took a career-high 13 free throws, making nine.
• Freshman Nyadieng Yiech scored in double figures for the third time in her collegiate career (12 points).
• The Gators trailed at the half for the first time this season, 39-31.

NEXT OPPONENT
           The Gators return home to take on Florida State (3-1 entering today’s game), Thursday, Nov. 20. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. EST at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

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