Florida Gators

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Florida women's basketball team resumes SEC play Sunday, Jan. 20 when it travels to Ole Miss to battle the Rebels at the Pavilion. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. ET.

Both teams enter the matchup off the heels of upset victories as the Gators erased a 14 point deficit to defeat Missouri, 58-56, and the Rebels won at then No. 16 Kentucky, 55-49. Both teams snapped three-game losing streaks with their respective wins and both teams received a "bye" week, not having played a Thursday night contest this week.

The contest will air live on the SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Christy Thomaskutty on the call while Kyle Crooks and Brittany Davis will handle the radio broadcast on ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM.

Game Notes UF | Game Notes MISS

Last time out Florida featured four double-figure scorers and closed the game on a 10-0 run to earn its first-ever victory over Missouri and its first conference victory of the season, downing the Tigers 58-56 this past Sunday. In just her eighth game with Florida, Danielle Rainey scored a game-high 16 points while Delicia Washington provided the late game heroics with a contested right-handed lay in with 2.2 seconds remaining to win it for the Gators. Florida trailed by as many 14 and led just twice in the game, once when it was 2-0 and again when the final horn sounded.

A season ago, the Rebels and Gators battled three times, twice during the regular season and once again in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The matchups were all extremely close as the average margin of victory was just three points. Ole Miss bookended the series with victories, claiming a 78-75 win in Oxford before grinding out a 48-43 win at the SEC Tournament. Sandwiched in between was Florida's 61-60 victory on Jan. 21 in Gainesville as Washington added 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Gators came back from 13 points down.

Ole Miss, like Florida, earned its first SEC victory in its last action as the Rebels slowed down a potent Kentucky offense and left Lexington with a win over the nationally-ranked Wildcats. The veteran tandem of Crystal Allen and Shandricka Sessom paces the Rebels as Allen leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game and Sessom, a guard, is the squad's best rebounder at a 5.9 rebounds per game clip. The senior Allen is one of the league's most-talented scorers, ranking second in the SEC in scoring and leading the conference with 52 made three-pointers. Sessom, who missed the majority of last season due to an ACL tear, averages 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds. The Rebels, picked to finish 14th in the SEC Preseason Poll, have recorded six of their seven wins at home. Ole Miss is under the direction of first year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin who spent the previous five seasons at the helm at Jacksonville, leading the Dolphins to a 94-63 record during that span and three-straight 20 wins seasons.

In 39 meetings between the two programs, Florida holds the 21-18 edge which includes a 12-6 mark in games played in Oxford. Over the last 10 matchups, the series stands at 5-5.

Sunday's matchup features two of the SEC's top shooters and scorers in Florida's Funda Nakkasoglu and the Rebels' Crystal Allen. Nakkasoglu leads the conference averaging 3.1 three-pointers per game while Allen isn't far behind at a 2.9 per game clip. Allen has the most three-pointers made overall with 52, and both guards rank within the league's top 10 in scoring as Allen averages 18.5 (2nd) and Nakkasoglu 16.6 (8th).

Following Sunday's action, the Gators return home to host No.7 Mississippi State Thursday, Jan. 24 at Exactech Arena.

Florida at Ole Miss Broadcast Info
Time & Date: Sunday, Jan. 20
Live Stream: SEC Network 
Live Stats: Link
Radio: ESPN 98.1FM/850 AM WRUF
Records: Florida (5-12, 1-3) | Ole Miss (7-11, 1-3)

Notables

• Through Florida's four SEC contests, Kiki Smith is averaging a team-best 10.8 points per game and has knocked down a three-pointer in each game. The lefty has really found her stroke, knocking down 7-of-13 long-range shots during the span.
• The Gators have held their opponent to 65 or fewer points nine times this season. On 10 occasions, the Gators have limited their opponent to a point total below their season average, including last time out vs. Mizzou.
• UF's bench is outscoring opponent's reserves, 325-218 on the season and the Gators have held the edge in terms of bench production in 11 games. Florida's +107 margin in bench production is the fifth-highest in the SEC.
• Sophomore Danielle Rainey erupted for a career-high 16 points against Missouri, knocking down a career-high five 3-pointers. After joining the team at semester and playing the final four non-conference games, Rainey has hit her stride during SEC action averaging 8.0 points per game on .375 shooting from three. The TCU transfer has drained nine 3-pointers which ties her with sharpshooter Funda Nakkasoglu for the team lead during league play.
• Cam Newbauer (2nd season) and Yolett McPhee-McCuin (1st season) are two of the league's newest coaches. McPhee-McCuin is the league's newest face on the sidelines while Newbauer's hire was the third most recent as Arkansas' Mike Neighbors was brought on a few weeks after him.
• In all five of their wins, the Gators have outrebounded their opponent. UF is averaging 42.2 rebounds in wins while averaging 35.2 in losses.
• Against Missouri, UF trailed by as many as 14 and 12 in the fourth quarter but stormed back with a 10-0 run to shock the Tigers and hand them their first SEC loss. UF's 14 point comeback was its largest since it came back from a 13 point deficit vs. Ole Miss last January.
• UF's 8 newcomers have accounted for 71% of its minutes and 58% of its scoring.
• Through 17 games, six of Florida's opponents are either ranked in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes. As of Jan. 16, Florida ranks 60th nationally in Strength of Schedule as it has taken on six teams ranked with in the RPI's top 50. Florida has battled 12 teams that qualified for the postseason a season ago. NCAA Tournament (FSU, Mercer, Ohio State, South Carolina, Missouri), WNIT (Indiana, Bethune-Cookman, Utah, UNLV, Alabama) WBI (Northeastern).
• Class of 2019 signees Brylee Bartram (Tampa, Fla.), Lavender Briggs (Provo, Utah) and Nina Rickards (Queens, NY) all earned McDonald's All-American Game Nominations earlier this week. Florida is one of four SEC programs to have at least three nominees in the 2019 class (Miss. St., South Carolina, Vanderbilt). The fourth member of next year's class, Faith Dut (Vancouver, B.C.), plays in Canada and thus was not eligible for a nomination.

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