BATON ROUGE, La. — Fresh off of its first conference win of the season, the Florida Women’s Basketball Team is off the rest of this week before hitting the road again Monday for an 8 p.m. EST tip at LSU. The game against the No. 6/6 -ranked Tigers (17-2, 3-2) is being broadcast on SECN, and will be the first of three straight for the Gators (13-8, 1-5) against Top-10 competition (Jan. 29 vs. No. 4/5 Texas; Feb. 1 at No. 5/4 Vanderbilt).
 
Florida led wire to wire Sunday in an 89-71 victory over Missouri, scoring the first 13 points of the game, and 22 of the first 24 to run its winning streak against the Tigers to five straight. It marked the second straight game that the Gators have made more than 50 percent of their shots from the field (.571 at No. 7/9 Kentucky; .531 vs. Missouri), and Florida has connected on 19 of 45 shots from beyond the arc over that two-game stretch (.422).
 
Liv McGill scored 28 points in the win to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists. Me’Arah O’Neal added 17 points, while Laila Reynolds scored 14, and Alexia Dizeko poured in a career-high 16 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
 
McGill’s 28 points increased her career total to 1,056, and moved her past Talatha Bingham ’99 (1,039 points), Nina Rickards ’23 (1,041), and Kayla Lewis ’15 (1,053) into 25th place on the Gators career scoring chart. Next up is Janna Bragg ’88 in 24th place with 1,098 points.
 
McGill has also put herself in the running for the Nancy Lieberman Award presented annually to the Division I Women’s Basketball player who exemplifies the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Nancy Lieberman during her career. The sophomore was left off the 20-player preseason list, but the mid-season watch list is due to come out at the end of the month. McGill is averaging 23.4 points, 5.9 assists and 2.89 steals per game, while the 20 players on the preseason list are averaging a collective 14.3 points, 5.2 assists and 2.12 steals.
 
LSU went 14-0 in non-conference play, but dropped its first two SEC games of the season at home to Kentucky (80-78) and on the road to Vanderbilt (65-61). Since then, the Tigers have rattled off three straight wins, including a 70-65 victory over then No. 2 Texas.
 
LSU leads the nation in scoring average (99.6 ppg) and scoring differential (+42.8 ppg), while ranking first in the country in field goal percentage (.528) and ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.379). In conference play, those figures drop to 76.0 points per game with a +7.8 scoring differential, and their shooting percentages fall to 45.8 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from beyond the arc.
 
The Tigers boast one of the most balanced offenses in all of Division I basketball with six players averaging double figures in scoring on the year — Flau’jae Johnson (14.9 ppg), MiLaysia Fulwiley (14.1), Mikaylah Williams (13.2), ZaKiyah Johnson (10.7), Amiya Joyner (10.3) and Kate Koval (10.1). Grace Knox is knocking on the door of a double-digit scoring season at 9.7 points per game. Six of those seven players are connecting on more than 50 percent of their shots from the field, and three are making 60-percent or more.
 
The Gators are 16-36 all-time against LSU, including 6-17 on the road. The Tigers have won the last five straight in the series, including two games last season—80-63 in Gainesville on Jan. 19, and 101-87 at the SEC Tournament on Mar. 7. Florida made 30 of 63 shots (.476) from the field in the tournament defeat, but LSU went 37 for 73 (.507). Those extra field goal attempts came from an 18-11 advantage on the offensive glass (21-13 in second chance points), and 13-19 edge in turnovers (25-15 in points off turnovers). Liv McGill led six Gators in double figures with 16 points, while the Tigers’ Aneesah Morrow led all scorers with 36.
 
LSU (17-2, 3-2)

A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …

• Improve the Gators’ record to 14-8 on the year, and 2-5 in the SEC.
• Improve Florida’s record to 2-5 on the road this season.
• Improve the Gators’ record to 17-36 vs. LSU.
• Snap a five-game losing streak to LSU
• Be Florida’s first win against a nationally-ranked opponent since Mar. 6, 2025 (63-61 vs. No. 20 Alabama, SEC Tournament).
• Be the Gators first road win against a nationally-ranked opponent since Feb. 6, 2022 (54-51 at No. 14 Georgia).

TALE OF THE TAPE

Florida		LSU
75.7	PPG	99.6
63.0	OPP PPG	56.7
+12.7	SCORING MARGIN	+42.8
45.3	FG %	52.8
38.0	OPP FG%	33.2
27.1	3 FG%	37.9
27.6	OPP 3 FG%	26.9
5.1	3FG/G	5.3
70.8	FT %	73.4
39.6	REBOUNDS/G	48.9
36.5	OPP REBOUNDS/G	29.8
+3.1	REB MARGIN	+19.1
13.5	ASSISTS/G	19.1
16.5	TURNOVER/G	14.6
+0.82	A/TO RATIO	+1.31
10.3	STEALS/G	13.8
4.33	BLOCKS/G	5.00

 

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS

 
GATOR BITES

• Through games of Wednesday, Jan. 21, Florida is … 11th in the SEC this season in points per game (75.7) … 13th in scoring defense (62.9) … 12th in scoring margin (+12.7) … 8th in field goal percentage (.453) … 9th in field goal percentage defense (.380) … 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.271) … 6th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.276) … 11th in free throw percentage (.708) … 9th in offensive rebound percentage (.360) … 14th in defensive rebound percentage (.669) … 13th in assists (13.5) … 8th in steals (10.3) … 11th in blocked shots (4.33)
• The Gators have held 15 of 21 opponents below 70 points this season.
• In SEC games, Florida is ranked fifth in the conference in field goal percentage (.435), and sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.313).
• Florida is ranked 38th in the nation in free throws made per game (14.9), and 36th in free throw attempts per game (21.0) through games of Monday, January 19.
• Florida’s NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, is No. 54 through games of Monday, Jan. 21.
• 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 25th place with 1,058 career points, 42 points behind Janna Bragg in 24th with 1,098.
• 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 seven 25-5-5-5 games … combined.

PROJECTED LSU STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown / Previous Schools
Amiya Joyner	1	6-2	F	Sr.	Farmville, N.J. / East Carolina
Grace Knox	2	6-2	F	Fr.	Las Vegas, Nev. /
Flau’Jae Johnson	3	5-10	G	Sr.	Savannah Ga. /
Mikaylah Williams	12	6-0	G	Jr.	Bossier City, La. /
Jada Richard	30	6-0	G	Jr.	Opelousas, La. /

 
TIGERS QUICK HITS

• Members of the media and league coaches picked Missouri to finished third in the SEC this season.
• Members of the media selected Flau’Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams to the preseason All-SEC First and Second Teams respectively, while coaches placed both on the preseason All-SEC First Team, and tabbed MiLaysia Fulwiley for the Second Team.
• LSU has won 30 or more games in each of the last three seasons, including a program record-tying 34 in 2022-23 en route to their first NCAA Championship.
• The Tigers are averaging 99.6 points per game, which is the top scoring output in the nation. In SEC play, LSU is averaging 76.0 points per game, which is the fifth highest in the conference.
• LSU leads the country in field goal percentage, connecting on 52.8 percent of their shots from the floor, and ninth in the country in three-point field goal percentage, making 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. In league competition, the Tigers are making 45.8 percent of their field goal attempts, and 34.0 percent from distance.
• The Tigers are outscoring opponents this season by an average of 42.8 points per game, which is the top scoring differential in the nation. They are beating SEC teams by an average of 7.8 points.
• LSU grabs an average of 48.8 rebounds per game which ranks third in the nation, and their rebound differential of 19.1 per game is more than three rebounds per game better than the second highest figure in the country. In SEC play, the Tigers are averaging 42.4 boards per game, and outrebounding their opponents by 6.2 per contest.
• LSU has six players averaging double figures in scoring this season—Johnson (14.9 ppg), Fulwiley (14.1), Williams (13.2), ZaKiyah Johnson (10.7), Amiya Joyner (10.3) and Kate Koval (10.1). Grace Knox is knocking on the door of a double-digit scoring season at 9.7 points per game.
• Six of the Tigers top seven scorers on the season are making more than 50 percent of their field goal attempts, while three are connecting on better than 60 percent of their shots.

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