GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite a balanced offensive attack with a season-high nine players scoring in the game, the University of Florida women's basketball team fell 79-66 to undefeated Northeastern Wednesday evening at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Senior Funda Nakkasoglu continued her terrific start to the 2018-19 campaign with a team-best 23 points as the Australian finished with 20 or more points for the fifth time in six games. Sophomore Kiki Smith and junior Delicia Washington joined Nakkasoglu in double figures with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

Junior college transfer Paige Robinson was a force rebounding for the Gators, hauling in a career-high 10 rebounds including seven on the offensive end.

The Gators trailed 33-30 at the break and held a two-point lead in the third quarter, but the Huskies pulled away by outscoring UF 22-15 in the final 10 minutes of action.

The Huskies, who entered the game averaging just 5.4 three-pointers per game, notched a season-best 13 three-pointers, connecting on 50 percent of their attempts. Three Northeastern players recorded double-digit scoring efforts, paced by Jess Genco's game-high 26 points. The senior netted eight three-pointers as Northeastern, ranked No. 19 in the latest RPI rankings, moves to 6-0 on the season.

UF held a 21-6 advantage in second chance points and tied a season-best with 16 offensive rebounds in the hard-fought defeat. Florida finished with double-digit three-pointers for the second time this season, knocking down 11 while shooting 34.9 percent overall from the floor.

Florida faced a 19-13 deficit after the first quarter and trailed by as many as nine in the frame as the Huskies made five of their first nine three-point attempts. UF countered by outscoring the Huskies 18-14 in the second quarter to trim the gap heading into halftime. The Gators turned up the defensive intensity and forced the Huskies into 1-of-12 shooting to finish out the first half.

A Nakkasoglu three-pointer to open the third quarter gave Florida its first lead at 34-33 with 9:47 remaining. Florida would then lead 37-35, but after an 11-0 Northeastern run, the Gators trailed for the remainder of the game. Northeastern's lead swelled again to nine points but hot shooting from Nakkasoglu, who finished with nine points in the frame, kept the Gators in striking distance as they trailed just 57-51 heading into the final quarter.

A Nakkasoglu layup with 8:16 remaining in the fourth shrunk the Northeastern lead to just two at 60-58 but that is as close as the Gators would come.

Zada Williams added seven points off the bench, shooting 3-of-5 from the field.

Florida continues its season-long four-game homestand Sunday, Dec. 2 when it welcomes Texas Tech to the Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Up Next
Florida (0-6) vs. Texas Tech (5-1)
Sunday, Dec. 2
Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center

Notables

• Nine of the 10 players to take the floor for Florida scored, the previous high was seven.
• Paige Robinson set a new career high in rebounds with 10 and assists with two.
  • Seven of her rebounds were on the offensive end, the most of any Gator this season.
• Without a double-digit scoring game through the Gators' first four contests, Smith has recorded 10 or more points in consecutive games, converting a pair of three-pointers in each as well.
• Stephanie Brower finished with two points, tying her career high as she made her first two career free throws.
• Florida held Northeastern scoreless for the final 2:02 of the game.
• Nakkasoglu has finished with at least 20 points in five of Florida's first six games.

Quotables
Head Coach Cameron Newbauer

Opening Statement: "We knew (Northeastern) was a tough, gritty team. Coming in, they were averaging five threes a game and hit 13 tonight, so hats off to them. They played well together and shared the ball. Their defense was my biggest worry going up against them because they guard you, that's why we shot 35% from the floor, and they frustrate you. They did such a good job with their 21 assists as well, and 29 field goals. We tried to some things to disrupt them and gave them more kick out opportunities. Hats off to Northeastern, they deserved to win this game today. We've got to keep working and keep grinding. This isn't fun, but we have to stick with the process of fighting and sticking together. If you want to go anywhere and do anything, you have to overcome some obstacles and you can't do it alone. That includes me as the head coach, our assistants and our players. It has to be a collective act for all 40 minutes. We'll get back after it on Friday in practice and then we've got the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Sunday against Texas Tech. We'll be back on Sunday, but before then, we've got a couple days to put some work in."

On Northeastern's performance . . .
"Anytime a team comes to the University of Florida, they'll play well. There's a reason why they're undefeated at 6-0. They guard you and if you don't share the ball, if you don't move, you won't succeed. The first half, we only scored on possessions with three or more passes. We kept talking about that and we knew in order to score against them, we had to make a move, we had to make them have multiple closeouts to get good looks. When we watch the film, I'm sure we will see that in the second half we will see that we had more possessions where we didn't share the ball like we should. It's tough because we aren't good enough as individual players to create our own shots for 40 minutes against a really good defensive team like that."

Junior Forward Paige Robinson

On her performance
"Being here, coming from JUCO, it was a big difference. I think the coaches have been really patient with me and I'm finding my feet here. Every day I feel like we're getting better as a team."
 
Redshirt Senior Funda Nakkasoglu
On Robinson's performance

"I think she's actually had a rough couple of weeks, but she's used that and she's come back every day in practice and in games and I sure can see her improvement, week in and week out. We're really very proud of her and you can see her improving as the season goes on."

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