Gators Close Out Regular Season with Three Straight vs Ranked Foes Beginning Sunday vs. No. 25/24 Alabama

Sunday, February 22

Gainesville, FL

12 p.m.

Florida Gators

Alabama

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Gators Close Out Regular Season with Three Straight vs Ranked Foes Beginning Sunday vs. No. 25/24 Alabama

Friday, February 20, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Pregame Notes

By: John Maxwell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators have won three of their last four SEC games, and with three contests left on the regular season docket, they still have their sights set on a potential ninth or tenth place finish prior to the start of the conference tournament. To snag that nine or 10 seed, the Gators will likely need to win out at home against Alabama and Ole Miss, and on the road against Georgia, although scenarios exist where winning just two of those three would do the trick.

First up, though, are the Crimson Tide (20-7, 6-7) who make their way to Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Sunday for a 12 p.m. EST tip on SECN.

Alabama enters the weekend having lost three straight games—72-69 at Texas A&M, 79-71 vs. Oklahoma, and 76-57 vs. South Carolina. The Crimson Tide rank 16th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage connecting on 36.8 percent of their attempts on the year. They make 37.0 percent of their shots from beyond the arc in conference play, which leads the SEC, and drain 8.9 threes per contest which are the second most.

The team's top four scorers all connect on better than 37.0 percent from distance vs. conference opponents—Jessica Timmons (16.4 ppg, .388 3G%), Karly Weathers (10.5 ppg, .385 3G%), Ta'Mia Scott (10.1 ppg, .377 3G%), Diana Collins (8.8 ppg, .395 3G%).

As a team, Alabama also ranks fifth in the conference against SEC foes in blocked shots (4.92 bpg), thanks in large part to Naomi Jones who alters 3.00 shots per game in conference despite playing fewer than 19 minutes per game.

During the Gators' recent run of success, they have been getting things done predominantly on defense where they have held their last four SEC foes to 38.8 shooting from the field, and 27.4 percent from three-point range.

Me'Arah O'Neal has become Florida's most efficient offensive force, making 58.8 percent of her shots over the last four games, and 50.0 percent from deep. She is also averaging 8.0 rebounds over the last two weeks to go along with 14.0 points per game.

Liv McGill continues to climb a variety of Florida's single-season and career statistical charts. She has 592 points on the season, and needs just 40 more to surpass Tonya Washington's 631 points in the 1999-2000 campaign to become the Gators' single-season scoring leader. The preseason all-SEC selection is also just 44 points away from moving in to Florida's top 20 career scoring leaders.

She ranks eighth in the nation in scoring this year (22.8 ppg), 15th in assists (6.0), and 40th in steals (2.76 spg), and is one of just three players in the country averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists on the season (Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, TCU's Olivia Miles).

Florida is 32-36 all-time against Alabama including a 63-61 win over the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament a year ago. The Gators led by eight, 61-53, with 49 second remaining, and withstood a pair of 'Bama three balls and a layup down the stretch to eke out the two-point victory. Liv McGill scored 29 points on 10 of 17 shooting in the win, while Ra Shaya Kyle added 12 points and Laila Reynolds chipped in 10.

ALABAMA (20-7, 6-7)

Date: Sunday, Feb. 22
Time: 12 p.m. EST
Site: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Listen: FloridaGators.com
Watch: SECN+
Live stats: StatBroadcast

A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …

Improve the Gators' record to 17-12 on the year, guaranteeing their fifth consecutive winning season, and 5-9 in the SEC.
Potentially move Florida (4-9) into a tie for 11th place with Mississippi State (5-8 and at Texas Sunday) a game back of Alabama (6-7), and a game-and-a-half behind Georgia (6-7 at Auburn Monday).
Improve Florida's record to 13-4 at home this season.
Improve the Gators' record to 33-36 all-time vs. Alabama.
Be Florida's first win against a nationally-ranked opponent since Mar. 6, 2025 (63-61 vs. No. 20 Alabama, SEC Tournament).

POSTSEASON PICTURE

The 2026 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament is being held at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. from March 4-8.
All 16 teams make the tournament
The top four seeds have a double bye into the quarterfinals on March 6.
The five through the eight seeds have a bye into the second round on March 5.
The nine through 16 seeds play in the first round on March 4 with 9 playing 16, 10 playing 15, 11 playing 14 and 12 playing 13.
Entering Sunday's game, Florida is tied for 12th place with Missouri (4-9) and Texas A&M (4-9), a game back of Mississippi State (5-8) in 11th, and two games behind Alabama (6-7) and Georgia (6-7) who are tied for ninth.
With three games left in the regular season, the Gators' remaining schedule consists of games against Alabama (T-9th), Ole Miss (T-6th), and Georgia (T-9th).

TALE OF THE TAPE

Florida		Alabama
73.7	PPG	70.8
65.7	OPP PPG	59.6
+8.0	SCORING MARGIN	+11.3
44.9	FG %	44.1
39.7	OPP FG%	38.0
28.4	3 FG%	36.8
28.3	OPP 3 FG%	29.4
5.4	3FG/G	8.4
70.2	FT %	73.1
38.2	REBOUNDS/G	37.7
36.6	OPP REBOUNDS/G	34.4
+1.5	REB MARGIN	+3.3
13.3	ASSISTS/G	14.0
17.0	TURNOVER/G	14.4
+0.79	A/TO RATIO	+0.98
9.8	STEALS/G	7.8
4.04	BLOCKS/G	5.15

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown/Previous School
Me'Arah O'Neal	8	6-4	F	So.	Houston Texas
Daviane Mindoudi	12	6-1	G	So.	Bilbao, Spain
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 Saturday, Feb. 21, Florida is … 12th in the SEC this season in points per game (73.7) … 11th in scoring defense (65.7) … 12th in scoring margin (+8.0) … 8th in field goal percentage (.449) … 10th in field goal percentage defense (.397) … 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.284) … 3rd in three-point field goal percentage defense (.283) … 13th in free throw percentage (.702) … 10th in offensive rebound percentage (.351) … 14th in defensive rebound percentage (.657) … 12th in assists (13.3) … 8th in steals (9.79) … 10th in blocked shots (4.04).
In SEC games, Florida is ranked 11th in scoring (69.0), 12th in scoring defense (74.4) sixth in field goal percentage (.434), 11th in field goal percentage defense (.434), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.317), and sixth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.296).
The Gators have held 17 of 28 opponents below 70 points this season, and nine opponents below 60 points.
Florida is tied for 42nd in the nation in free throws made per game (14.5), and 37th in free throw attempts per game (20.6) through games of Thursday, Feb. 19.
Florida's NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, is No. 48 through games of Thursday, Feb. 19.
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 23rd place with 1,203 career points, 11 points behind Haley Lorenzen in 22nd with 1,214.
Liv McGill was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Mid-Season List along with Kentucky's Tonie Morgan, NC State's Zoe Brooks, Nebraska's Britt Prince, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, Oklahoma's Aaliyah Chavez, South Carolina's Raven Johnson, TCU's Olivia Miles, Texas' Rori Harmon, and UCLA's Kiki Rice.
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 11 games with 25-5-5-5.

PROJECTED ALABAMA STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown / Previous Schools
Ta'Mia Scott	15	6-0	G	Sr.	Clarksville, Tenn. / Middle Tennessee
Diana Collins	20	5-9	G	Jr.	Lilburn, Ga. / Ohio State
Essence Cody	21	6-4	F	Jr.	Valdosta, Ga. /
Karly Weathers	22	5-11	G	Sr.	Loretto, Tenn. /
Jessica Timmons	23	5-8	G	R-Sr.	Charlotte, N.C. / NC State

CRIMSON TIDE QUICK HITS

Members of the media and league coaches both tabbed Alabama to finish 9th in the SEC this season.
Alabama ended a 20-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2020-21 and have received an invitation to the Big Dance in four of the last five seasons.
The Crimson Tide have won at least 20 games in each of the last five season including 2025-26.
Alabama went 14-0 in non-conference play.
The Crimson Tide rank 16th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage connecting on 36.8 percent of their attempts on the year. They make 37.0 percent of their shots from beyond the arc in conference play, which leads the SEC, and drain 8.9 threes per contest which are the second most.
Against league opponents, Alabama is averaging 66.4 points per game, which is the fourth lowest average in the league. They allow 69.0 points per game, which is the sixth best average in the SEC.
'Bama's 4.92 blocked shots per game rank fifth in the conference against SEC foes.
The Crimson Tide's top four scorers all connect on better than 37.0 percent from distance vs. conference opponents—Jessica Timmons (16.4 ppg, .388 3G%), Karly Weathers (10.5 ppg, .385 3G%), Ta'Mia Scott (10.1 ppg, .377 3G%), Diana Collins (8.8 ppg, .395 3G%).
Despite playing fewer than 19 minutes per game in SEC play, Naomi Jones leads the conference in blocked shots at 3.00 per game.