LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Florida Women’s Basketball Team remains on the road this week as the Gators (12-7, 0-4) tangle with No. 7/9 Kentucky (16-2, 3-1) on Thursday, Jan. 15. Tip at Historic Memorial Coliseum is slated for 7 p.m. EST, and the game is being broadcast on SECN+.
 
Florida is coming off of a tough 60-50 defeat on the road to Auburn that saw the Tigers outscore the Gators 22-11 in the decisive fourth quarter.
 
The Gators’ defense remains its calling card as they have held every opponent this season below 80 points, 15 of 19 foes below 70 points, and seven teams below 60 points. Florida’s field goal percentage allowed (.370) is the 21st lowest in the country among major conference institutions, and its three-point field goal percentage allowed (.263) is the ninth lowest among that group.
 
Sophomore point guard Liv McGill became the 28th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career-point plateau in the second quarter of the Auburn game, and she now has 1,008 points to her credit. Talatha Bingham ’99 (1,039 points) and Nina Rickards ’23 (1,041) are next up for McGill to pass on the Gators career scoring chart.
 
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, 5.5 assists and 3.18 steals per game, while the 20 players on the preseason list are averaging a collective 14.3 points, 5.3 assists and 2.17 steals.
 
Kentucky opened the 2025-26 season with seven consecutive wins before falling 74-66 to Maryland at the Puerto Rico Shootout. The Wildcats then rattled off another eight in a row, including two SEC victories, before dropping a 64-51 decision at Alabama. They bounced back Sunday with a 63-57 win over No. 5/5 Oklahoma.
 
Kentucky is outscoring opponents by an average of 25.2 points per game this season, which is the 13th largest margin in the nation, and their 53.0 points allowed per game are the seventh fewest in the country.
 
Junior center Clara Strack leads a balanced Kentucky offensive attack averaging 16.2 points per game. Three other Wildcats are averaging double figures in scoring this season—Tonie Morgan (14.4 ppg), Teonni Key (11.0) and Jordan Obi (10.6)—while two other players—Asia Boone (9.8 ppg) and Amelia Hassett (9.4)—are knocking on the double-digit door.
 
Florida is 27-38 all-time against the Wildcats in a series that dates back to the 1978-79 season. Kentucky has won the last four meetings between the teams, including a 71-55 decision on January 9 of last year. Laila Reynolds scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss to lead the Gators, but Florida couldn’t overcome the Wildcats’ 48.8 percent shooting performance which included eight made threes.
 
Kentucky (16-2, 3-1)

A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …

• Improve the Gators’ record to 13-7 on the year, and 1-4 in the SEC.
• Improve Florida’s record to 2-4 on the road on the season.
• 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).
• Snap a four-game losing skid to the Wildcats.
• Improve Florida’s records against Kentucky to 28-38 overall and 13-17 on the road.

TALE OF THE TAPE

Florida		Kentucky
74.3	PPG	78.2
60.9	OPP PPG	53.0
+13.4	SCORING MARGIN	+25.2
44.3	FG %	44.8
37.0	OPP FG%	33.3
25.2	3 FG%	31.3
26.3	OPP 3 FG%	26.6
4.7	3FG/G	8.9
70.1	FT %	72.2
40.3	REBOUNDS/G	42.6
37.4	OPP REBOUNDS/G	32.8
+2.9	REB MARGIN	+9.8
13.1	ASSISTS/G	18.2
16.8	TURNOVER/G	11.2
+0.78	A/TO RATIO	+1.62
11.0	STEALS/G	16.3
4.58	BLOCKS/G	7.67

 

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS

 
GATOR BITES

• Through games of Wednesday, Jan. 14, Florida is … 11th in the SEC this season in points per game (74.3) … 12th in scoring defense (60.9) … 12th in scoring margin (+13.4) … 12th in field goal percentage (.443) … 8th in field goal percentage defense (.370) … 16th in three-point field goal percentage (.252) … 3rd in three-point field goal percentage defense (.263) … 10th in offensive rebound percentage (.365) … 15th in defensive rebound percentage (.662) … 14th in assists (13.1) … 7th in steals (11.0) … 11th in blocked shots (4.58)
• The Gators have held all of their opponents this season below 80 points and 15 of 19 below 70 points.
• Florida is ranked 37th in the nation in free throws made per game (15.1), and 29th in free throw attempts per game (21.5) through games of Monday, January 12.
• Florida’s NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, is No. 60 through games of Monday, Jan. 12.
• Liv McGill and Me’Arah O’Neal have each earned SEC Player of the Week honors this season.
• 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, Sunday, Jan. 11 at Auburn.
• 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 KENTUCKY STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown / Previous Schools
Jordan Obi	0	6-1	G	Gr.	Hartford, Conn. / Penn
Tonie Morgan	5	5-9	G	Sr.	Orlando, Fla. /
Asia Boone	8	5-8	G	Jr.	San Diego, Calif. / Liberty
Clara Strack	13	6-5	C	Jr.	Buffalo, N.Y. / Virginia Tech
Amelia Hassett	32	6-4	F	Sr.	Albury, New South Wales, Australia / E Fla St. College

 
WILDCATS QUICK HITS

• Members of the media picked Kentucky to finished eighth in the SEC this season, while the coaches picked them to finish seventh.
• The media also named junior center Clara Strack to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team.
• The Wildcats are 9-0 at home this season and 24-3 over the past two seasons
• Kentucky is holding opponents to 53.0 points per game and to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, both of which are the seventh lowest figures in the nation.
• The Wildcats are blocking an average of 7.67 shots per game, which is the second highest figure in Division I Women’s Basketball (Virginia, 8.35 bpg).
• Clara Strack is one of only 10 players in the nation averaging at least 15 points (16.2 ppg) and 10 rebounds (10.2 rpg) per game this season. She also ranks fourth in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.89) through games of Monday, Jan. 12.
• Tonie Morgan is second in the nation in assists per game (8.5) through games of Monday, Jan. 12.

FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators