KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With a tough front end to the Gators' SEC schedule, Florida faced more adversity on the road at Tennessee on Thursday night. The Gators were edged by the Lady Vols 88-81 with a familiar road scene in the fourth quarter. Tennessee shot 18 free throws in the decisive period.
 
Florida trailed for six minutes and 27 seconds in the first quarter, battling for its first lead of the game. It came in the final two minutes with a three-point jumper from Leilani Correa and the Gators never trailed again in the initial half. 
 
The Gators' largest lead in the first half stood at 35-23 with a 12-point margin in the second quarter. The Lady Vols went on an offensive run to whittle that down and ultimately tie the game at 43-all going into the locker room at half. 
 
Coming out for the third quarter, Florida secured the first basket to regain the lead at 45-43. The score went back and forth for the remainder of the third, but it was the Lady Vols who pulled ahead outscoring the Gators 20-16 in the third. The score stood at 63-59 going into the fourth and final quarter of play. In the final 10 minutes of competition, Tennessee saw the line an additional 18 times. The foul advantage gave the Lady Vols an additional 25 points in the fourth to secure their win over the Gators.
 
IN THE FIRST:

• Florida forced five turnovers on Tennessee and were only held to two 
• Correa led the Gators on offense with five points going 1-of-1 from the field, 1-of-1 from the three, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line 
• Florida totaled 12 points in the paint and seven from the bench 
• The Gators grabbed their first lead of the game with 2:22 left on the clock with a three-point jumper from Leilani Correa (17-15)
• At the end of the first, Florida was shooting 44.4 percent from the field (8-of-18)
• Florida had a two-point lead (21-19) going into the second quarter  

 
IN THE SECOND:

• Florida increased their field goal percentage in the second to 47.1, shooting 8-of-17
• The Lady Vols went on a 6-0 run in the second after the Gators had a 12-point lead (35-23)
• Zippy Broughton led Florida in scoring with five of the Gators 22 points
  • Leilani Correa and Matharu followed with four apiece 
• The Gators secured an additional five turnovers on Tennessee to get their first half total to 10
• Florida had five steals on the Lady Volunteers in the second
  • Aliyah Matharu led the Gators with three
• Going into half Florida had a combined 18 bench points and 20 points in the paint
• The Gators finished out the half with a total of 39 possessions, scoring on 20 of them 
• Florida was seven of 12 layups in the first half 

 
IN THE THIRD:

• Laila Reynolds led the Gators in scoring with five points in the third and on the boards with three of Florida's nine rebounds 
• The Gators took the lead twice in the third and were tied up with the Lady Vols twice in the third 
• Both teams secured a total of four turnovers in the third, but the Vols converted for seven points and the Gators only converted for three 
• The Gators secured eight points in the paint and four bench points 
• The score stood at 63-59 going into the fourth with Florida behind by four 

 
IN THE FOURTH:

• Florida hit 22 points in the fourth to tie their game high set in the second quarter 
• The Gators only secured five points in the paint–their lowest of the game 
• Laila Reynold's led Florida on the boards once more with four rebounds in the final quarter– adding to her game total of eight
• In the last quarter, Tennessee saw the free throw line 18 times compared to the Gators six– contributing heavily to their 25-point quarter 

 
WORTH NOTING:

• Zippy Broughton reached her first double figure game of the season with 11 points
• The Gators had three others in double figures for scoring:
  • Aliyah Matharu (23)
  • Leilani Correa (12)
  • Alberte Rimdal (11)
• Laila Reynolds led Florida on the boards for the second time in her collegiate career with a total of eight rebounds
• The Gators secured a total of 34 points in the paint and 27 bench points 
• Florida secured 11 steals compared to Tennessee's game total of three

SERIES RECORD:
The all-time series between Florida and Tennessee now stands at 57-5 with the Lady Vols leading. 

KELLY RAE FINLEY SAID:
UF coach Kelly Rae Finley on starting SEC with No. 1 South Carolina and back-to-back road games:
"It's the hand that we drew and in our program,  we don't make excuses– to be the best you have to beat the best. To play this schedule is good for us, we don't want handouts, and we don't want it to be easy. It is what it is and some people could say it's unfortunate, some people could say you are going to get knocked down but there's one thing I know about our team, we're really hard to knock down. The harder the situation gets the better we get, the more we thrive, and that's what I expect to see from our team moving forward."
 
SENIOR GUARD ZIPPY BROUGHTON SAID:
Senior guard Zippy Broughton on team mindset and looking ahead: 
"I know after this loss and after the losses we have had here in SEC play we are going to make sure we keep a level head. We are going to practice tomorrow and know that it's not about the losses, we have to keep getting better each and every day and take it one game at a time." 

NEXT UP:
The Gators will return home for a Sunday contest against Georgia. The Bulldogs are currently 10-6 with one SEC win and two SEC losses. Georgia most recently hosted Alabama Thursday evening and fell 81-63.
 
The Bulldogs are being led in scoring by Javyn Nicholson with a combined 249 points, averaging 16.6 a game. The only other player on Georgia's roster currently averaging in double figures for scoring is Zoesha Smith with 10.5. Nicholson is also leading the team on the boards with an average of 9.8 rebounds a game. 
 
During the 2023-24 non-conference season Georgia faced familiar opponents: Columbia, Purdue, and Georgia Tech. The Gators defeated all three, whilst the Bulldogs fell to Georgia Tech 64-53. The Bulldogs also saw losses to Belmont (76-50), Duke (72-65), and Ball State (52-51) during non-conference play. 
 
GEORGIA (10-6, 1-2):

• Date: Sunday, Jan. 14
• Time: 2 p.m. 
• Site: Exactech Arena 
• Stream: SECN+
• Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM
• Stats: StatBroadcast
• Tickets

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