Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - After consecutive road contests, the Florida women's basketball team (0-3) returns home to the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Sunday, Nov. 18 to host the Big Ten's Northwestern Wildcats (3-0). Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. ET.

Following the game, fans are invited to stick around for free ice cream while supplies last as part of the Sunday Sundaes promotion and for a post-game player autograph session.

The contest will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Bernie Guenther & Brittany Davis on the call while Kyle Crooks and Kelly Davis will handle the radio broadcast on ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM.

UF Game Notes | Northwestern Game Notes

In their most recent action, the Gators dropped a 92-82 decision Thursday night at Mercer despite an outstanding performance from junior guard Delicia Washington. Washington finished with a career-high 33 points, including 25 in the second half alone. Funda Nakkasoglu also played brilliantly for UF, finishing with 23 points including five three-pointers. Florida outscored Mercer, 34-23 in the fourth quarter, but the Bears held on for a win in their home opener. The Gators fought back after trailing by as many as 21 points in the third quarter and trimmed the Mercer lead to as low as four in the fourth.

Northwestern touts a 3-0 record, registering home wins against Duke and Illinois-Chicago while notching a victory at Green Bay. Four Wildcats are averaging double figures on the young season, paced by sophomore Lindsey Pulliam's 17.3 points per game. Senior forward Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, a Preseason All-Big 10 selection, enters the game averaging 13.7 rebounds per game which ranks within the nation's top 20. The Wildcats, who return three players who averaged double figures a season ago, are under the direction of 11th year Head Coach Joe McKeown who has guided Northwestern to twenty or more wins in two of the last four campaigns.

Sunday marks just the second meeting between the programs as the Wildcats claimed the lone meeting in November of 2016 when they won 73-68 at home. Washington, the only current player to have seen action in the game, recorded four points and six boards. The Gators are just 10-23 vs. Big Ten foes all time and have dropped three-straight against the conference. UF's last victory against the conference came back in 2015 when it won at Wisconsin, 91-75.

"We are getting better everyday and every moment. When you look at what Funda and Delicia have done so far this season, it is really all about their leadership. They have played at this level for awhile now and they're really showing that. Overall, we need to get tougher and better, but stick with our process. If you focus on outcome and the results, you can often times get lost in the shuffle so we are just really focused on the process right now," said Florida Head Coach Cameron Newbauer. 

Following Sunday's clash with Northwestern, Florida takes on another Big Ten team in Indiana when it travels to Assembly Hall to take on the 2018 Postseason WNIT Champion Hoosiers on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

Florida vs. Northwestern Broadcast Info
Time & Date: Sunday, Nov. 18 | 2 p.m. ET
Live Stream: SEC Network+
Live Stats: Link
Radio: ESPN 98.1FM/850 AM WRUF

Notables

• With Delicia Washington's career-best 33 points on Thursday, a player has scored 30 or more points in a game just 38 times in program history. Washington accounts for two of them as she also scored 31 points vs. Indiana in Dec. of 2016.
• Funda Nakkasoglu has made a three-pointer in 26-straight games, the second longest streak in program history. She sits four games behind the leader Brandi McCain (30).
• Through the Gators' first three games Nakkasoglu has really scored it well and scored efficiently as the redshirt-senior is near the top of the SEC in several offensive categories. Heading into Friday night's games she leads the SEC in scoring (22 ppg), three-point field goals per game (4.7), three-point field goals (14), ranks second in three-point field goal percentage (.583) and third in overall field goal percentage (.600). 
• Florida features two of the league's top four scorers in Nakkasoglu (22.0) and Washington (20.0) and is the only team in the conference to have more than one player averaging 20 or more points. 
• The Gators have started 0-3 for the first time since the 1979-80 season.
• After struggling to shoot it from distance in the season opener (4-of-24), Florida has improved its shooting in each of the last two games. At FSU, the Gators converted nine three-pointers and on Thursday at Mercer, Florida shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from three-point land. The Gators also struggled to shoot free throws in the first two contests, but Florida was locked in on Thursday, hitting 16-of-17 from the charity stripe.
• Northwestern is the first of three Big Ten foes Florida will face in its 2018-19 nonconference slate.

Promotions

• Sunday Sundaes
• Ocala residents receive FREE admission to the game by showing their ID at the window.
• Members of the Tip Off club who arrive early can participate in a pre-game "chalk talk" with members of the coaching staff. This includes FREE admission, concession vouchers and more.
• Any fan with a ticket from the Gator football game vs. Idaho (11/17/18) will receive FREE admission to the game.
• Students with a valid Gator 1 I.D. can check in via the app and earn 4 points.
• As he will be for every home game, DJ Vinny Phu will be in the arena to pump up the crowd all game.
• The team will be available to sign autographs after the game ends.

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