Thursday, January 8
Gainesville, FL
7 p.m.
Florida Gators
vs
Texas A&M
Gators Look To Break Into SEC Win Column Thursday vs. Texas A&M
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 | Women's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Women's Basketball Team hosts Texas A&M, Thursday, Jan. 8, with both teams looking to record their first SEC win of the season. The Gators dropped a pair of close decisions to No. 23/21 Tennessee (76-65) and No. 3 South Carolina (74-63) to open conference play, while the Aggies, fell at home to No. 8 Oklahoma (70-52), and on the road at Georgia (64-56). Tip at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is 7 p.m. EST, and the game is being broadcast on SECN+.
Florida (12-5, 0-2) had both Tennessee and South Carolina against the ropes last week erasing a 17-point deficit against the Lady Vols on Thursday before faltering in the fourth quarter, and trailing the Gamecocks by single digits throughout most of the day Sunday.
The Gators have been particularly effective on the defensive side of the ball of late, holding their two SEC opponents to a collective 36.8 percent shooting from the field. South Carolina entered their game against Florida connecting on 54.0 percent of their field goal attempts, ranking second in the nation in that category.
The difference in both losses came down to rebounding and free throws as Florida has been outrebounded by an average of 54 to 31, and SEC opponents are 40 for 55 at the charity stripe this year as compared to 22 for 27 for the Gators.
Liv McGill is averaging 25.0 points per game in conference play this year, and 24.5 points per game overall to rank fourth in the nation. She needs 22 points Thursday to become the 30th member of the Florida Women's Basketball program to reach the 1,000th point plateau in her career. She would be the second sophomore in Gators history to reach the mark, and the second fastest to reach that figure in terms of games played (53).
Texas A&M (7-4, 0-2) won its first four games of the season, but are 3-4 since then including two losses in conference play. In conference games only, the Aggies rank fourth in the SEC in field goal percentage allowed (.367), and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.179).
Junior forward Fatmata Janneh is averaging 17.0 points and an SEC-best 13.5 points per game against conference foes, while senior point guard Ny'Ceara Pryor is averaging 16.0 points, 6.5 assists and 4.50 steals. Pryor also ranks sixth in the nation in assists (7.5 apg), and fourth in steals (3.91 spg).
Florida is 6-11 all-time against the Aggies, but has won five straight in the series, including a 74-52 result on February 20 of last year. That 22-point spread was the largest margin of victory for the Gators in the series as McGill scored 18 points, and Florida made 53.8 percent of its shots on the night.
Texas A&M (7-4, 0-2)
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
GATOR BITES
AGGIES QUICK HITS
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Florida (12-5, 0-2) had both Tennessee and South Carolina against the ropes last week erasing a 17-point deficit against the Lady Vols on Thursday before faltering in the fourth quarter, and trailing the Gamecocks by single digits throughout most of the day Sunday.
The Gators have been particularly effective on the defensive side of the ball of late, holding their two SEC opponents to a collective 36.8 percent shooting from the field. South Carolina entered their game against Florida connecting on 54.0 percent of their field goal attempts, ranking second in the nation in that category.
The difference in both losses came down to rebounding and free throws as Florida has been outrebounded by an average of 54 to 31, and SEC opponents are 40 for 55 at the charity stripe this year as compared to 22 for 27 for the Gators.
Liv McGill is averaging 25.0 points per game in conference play this year, and 24.5 points per game overall to rank fourth in the nation. She needs 22 points Thursday to become the 30th member of the Florida Women's Basketball program to reach the 1,000th point plateau in her career. She would be the second sophomore in Gators history to reach the mark, and the second fastest to reach that figure in terms of games played (53).
Texas A&M (7-4, 0-2) won its first four games of the season, but are 3-4 since then including two losses in conference play. In conference games only, the Aggies rank fourth in the SEC in field goal percentage allowed (.367), and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.179).
Junior forward Fatmata Janneh is averaging 17.0 points and an SEC-best 13.5 points per game against conference foes, while senior point guard Ny'Ceara Pryor is averaging 16.0 points, 6.5 assists and 4.50 steals. Pryor also ranks sixth in the nation in assists (7.5 apg), and fourth in steals (3.91 spg).
Florida is 6-11 all-time against the Aggies, but has won five straight in the series, including a 74-52 result on February 20 of last year. That 22-point spread was the largest margin of victory for the Gators in the series as McGill scored 18 points, and Florida made 53.8 percent of its shots on the night.
Texas A&M (7-4, 0-2)
- Date: Thursday, Jan. 8
- Time: 7 p.m. EST
- Site: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
- Listen: wruf.com/listen-live/
- Watch: SECN+
- Live stats: Sidearm
- Improve the Gators record to 13-5 on the year, and 1-2 in the SEC.
- Improve Florida's record to 10-2 at home on the season.
- Extend the Gators winning streak against Texas A&M to six games.
- Improve Florida's records against the Aggies to 7-11 overall and 4-4 at home.
| Florida | A&M | |
| 76.2 | PPG | 68.2 |
| 60.2 | OPP PPG | 61.3 |
| +16.0 | SCORING MARGIN | +6.9 |
| 45.1 | FG % | 38.6 |
| 36.4 | OPP FG% | 37.7 |
| 24.6 | 3 FG% | 26.3 |
| 26.2 | OPP 3 FG% | 31.3 |
| 4.5 | 3FG/G | 4.9 |
| 70.2 | FT % | 65.3 |
| 40.6 | REBOUNDS/G | 41.0 |
| 37.3 | OPP REBOUNDS/G | 38.7 |
| +3.3 | REB MARGIN | +2.3 |
| 13.4 | ASSISTS/G | 13.9 |
| 16.7 | TURNOVER/G | 15.9 |
| +0.80 | A/TO RATIO | +0.87 |
| 11.3 | STEALS/G | 10.6 |
| 4.88 | BLOCKS/G | 3.36 |
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown/Previous School | |
| Me'Arah O'Neal | 8 | 6-4 | F | So | Houston Texas |
| Alexia Dizeko | 9 | 5-11 | G | Gr. | Sion, Switzerland |
| Laila Reynolds | 13 | 6-1 | G | Jr. | PG County, Md. |
| Caterina Piatti | 14 | 6-4 | F | Fr. | Scandiano, Italy |
| Liv McGill | 23 | 5-9 | G | So | Minneapolis, Minn. |
GATOR BITES
- Through games of Wednesday, Jan. 7, Florida is … 12th in the SEC this season in points per game (76.2) ... 13th in scoring defense (60.2) ... 12th in scoring margin (+16.0) ... 11th in field goal percentage (.451) ...8th in field goal percentage defense (.364) ... 16th in three-point field goal percentage (.246) ...2nd in three-point field goal percentage defense (.262) ... 10th in offensive rebound percentage (.365) ... 16th in defensive rebound percentage (.665) ... 14th in assists (13.4) ... 7th in steals (11.3) ... tied for 9th in blocked shots (4.88),
- The Gators have held 14 of 17 opponents this season below 70 points.
- Florida is ranked 31st in the nation in free throws made per game (15.4), and 24th in free throw attempts per game (21.9).
- Liv McGill needs 22 points today to become the 30th career 1,000-point scorer in Florida Women's Basketball history. She would become the second sophomore to reach the mark, and would tie for the second fastest to accomplish the feat in program history in terms of games played (53)
- Florida's NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, is No. 58 through games of Monday, Jan. 4.
- 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 six 25-5-5-5 games … combined.
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown / Previous Schools | |
| Ny'Ceara Pryor | 1 | 5-3 | G | Sr. | Baltimore, Md. / Sacred Heart |
| Janae Kent | 20 | 6-1 | G | Jr. | Oak Forest, Ill. |
| Salese Blow | 25 | 5-10 | G | Jr. | Murphy, Texas / Wichita State |
| Lauren Ware | 32 | 6-5 | F | Gr. | Bismark, N.D. |
| Fatmata Janneh | 44 | 6-2 | F | Jr. | London, England / Saint Peter's |
AGGIES QUICK HITS
- Members of the media tabbed Texas A&M to finish 14th in the SEC this season, while league coaches picked them to finish 13th.
- The Aggies have five international players on their roster—second only to Florida in the SEC.
- In conference games only, the Aggies rank fourth in the SEC in field goal percentage allowed (.367), and third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.179).
- Texas A&M has made just four three-pointers in its first two SEC games.
- Ny'Ceara Pryor ranks third in the SEC in assists per game (7.5), and first in steals per game (3.91). Nationally, she ranks sixth in assists per game, and fourth in steals per game. No other player is ranked in the top 20 in both categories.
- Fatmata Janneh leads the SEC in rebounds per game (12.1).
- Ny'Ceara Pryor recorded her 400th career steal in the Aggies last game, and needs just eight assists to reach 500 for her career.
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Players Mentioned
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