Gators’ Defense Comes Up Big in 61-53 Victory over Auburn

Thursday, February 5

Gainesville, FL

7 p.m.

Florida Gators

14-11,2-8SEC

Auburn

13-11,2-8SEC

Auburn

Florida

Gators’ Defense Comes Up Big in 61-53 Victory over Auburn

Thursday, February 5, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Game Book Photo Gallery

By: John Maxwell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators Women's Basketball Team (14-11, 2-8) held Auburn to 15 or fewer points in every quarter Thursday evening, and limited the Tigers to just 36.8 percent shooting from the field in picking up its second conference win of the season. Me'Arah O'Neal recorded her seventh double-double of the year with 16 points and a career-high 12 boards, while Laila Reynolds added a team-high 17 points, and Liv McGill chipped in 13.

KEY RUNS
1st Quarter (Tigers 11, Gators 7)

Neither team led by more than four points in the first as defense took center stage. The Gators made three of nine shots in the period, committing six turnovers while the Tigers went three for 11 from the field and were forced into five miscues.

2nd Quarter (Tigers 26, Gators 25)

Auburn extended its lead to seven on two occasions early in the second, but it remained a two-possession game for most of the quarter. The Tigers still led 24-20 with 2:24 on the clock, when Me'Arah O'Neal scored back-to-back buckets including a three-pointer to put the Gators back on top. Auburn's Ja'mia Harris closed out the scoring on a layup with :59 seconds to go. Both defenses were on display again as Florida held the Tigers to six of 17 shooting, while the Gators made five of 16. The difference for Florida was its seven of 10 performance at the free throw line compared to two of three for Auburn. O'Neal led all scorers with seven points in the period.

3rd Quarter (Gators 47, Tigers 38)

Florida scored the first seven points coming out of the intermission to post their largest lead of the game to the that point, 32-26. The Gators still led by four with 1:31 remaining in the period, and they closed out the quarter on a 5-0 run. O'Neal scored nine of Florida's 22 points and grabbed six rebounds, The Gators went eight for 14 from the field while Auburn missed 12 of 17 shots.

4th Quarter (Gators 61, Tigers 53)

Auburn scored the first four points of the final period to slice the Gators' advantage to five, 47-42, and the cut Florida's lead to four on two occasions late in the game, but the Gators made just enough of their free throws down the stretch to keep the Tigers at arm's length. Florida went five for eight from the charity stripe, while Auburn didn't attempt a single free throw.

KEY STATS

Florida went 18 for 28 from the free throw line while Auburn made 7 of 8.
The Gators made 39.2 % of their field goal attempts (20 of 51), while the Tigers made 36.8% of theirs (21 of 57).
The Gators outscored the Tigers 30-26 in the paint
The Gators outscored Auburn's 15-12 in second chance points.
Florida outscored the Tigers 9-2 in fast break points.

FROM THE GATORS' MOUTHS

Coach Finley opening statement…
- "I think, you know, we expected a really tough, gritty game, and that's what we got. Auburn does a great job defensively, of keeping you from the paint. That weak side defender poses a lot of challenges in terms of paint finishes and getting inside, which is where we want to be. I thought that we did a great job sticking to our game plan. Defensively, I thought it was one of our better games in terms of guarding one-on-one, keeping people in front, communicating and especially in the second half. It was a gritty team win and that's what you get in this league every night."
Coach Finley on the tonight's rebounding performance…
- "Yeah, we've been working on that. We've been working really hard on that. When you crash the offensive glass, you have to go to pursue the ball. You gotta go and come up with the basketball. And I thought we probably could've finished a couple more of those, but our effort was there and the mentality was there. Auburn's tough because they play underneath you, so you really need to have a wider base. I thought out forwards did a good job of taking coaching and making the immediate adjustment and not getting distracted by what was. Wise base, muscle steps strength through their lower body and keeping that ball high."
Laila Reynolds on the third quarter momentum shift towards Florida…
- "That's been a big thing in practice as well, just third quarter, second half defense, keeping it on them. You know, we did that."
Me'Ara O'Neal on what as working well for her tonight…
- "I think getting on the boards on both ends really got me going. Three ball, I love to shoot the three so that gets me excited so I got to put up two. And just playing with my teammates, like I always do."
Laila Reynolds on the plan to get to the free throw line…
- "Yeah, putting pressure in the paint has been the thing in practice all week so just putting discipline pressure on the paint, the shot doesn't have to go up, but when we get the ball in the paint good things happen."

Post Game Press Conference: Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley, Me'Arah O'Neal and Laila Reynolds

GATOR BITES

The Gators are now 28-41 all-time against Auburn.
Florida's seven points in the first quarter are the second fewest they have scored in a quarter this season (6, 3rd quarter, at Navy)
Liv McGill scored in double figures for the 25th straight game (13 points).
Liv McGill's 13 points in the game give her 1,119 for her career, moving her within five points of Bernice Mosby '05 (1,124) in 23rd place on the Gators' career scoring chart. Haley Lorenzen '18 is next on the last with 1,214 points.
Me'Arah O'Neal scored in double figures for the 18th time this season (16 points). She added a career-high 12 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season and first in SEC play.
Laila Reynolds scored in double figures for the 17th time this season (17 points).
"Nidi" Yeich picked up a career-high tying four steals.

NEXT OPPONENT
The Gators remain at home this weekend for a Sunday, Feb. 8 game against Arkansas. Tip at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is at 12 p.m. EST, and the game is being broadcast on SECN.

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