O’Neal, McGill Combine for 51 Points as Women's Basketball Topples Memphis, 74-60

Friday, November 28

Grand Caymans, Cayman Islands

7:30 p.m.

Florida Gators

7-1,0-0SEC

Memphis

4-4,0-0American

Florida

Memphis

O’Neal, McGill Combine for 51 Points as Women's Basketball Topples Memphis, 74-60

Friday, November 28, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: John Maxwell

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman — The Florida Women's Basketball team used a smothering defense, and 51 combined points from sophomore forward Me'Arah O'Neal (24 points, nine rebounds) and sophomore guard Liv McGill (27 points, six rebounds) to improve its record to 7-1, Friday evening, in a 74-60 win over Memphis. The Gators held the Tigers to 31.1 percent shooting from the field, and kept Memphis' leading scorer, Chaé Harris, to just five points—13 fewer than her scoring average of 18.3 entering the weekend.

KEY RUNS
1st Quarter (Gators 18, Tigers 10)

The Gators scored 10 of the first 14 points of the game, as their bigs led the way in the early going. Sophomore forward Me'Arah O'Neal netted five of the first 10, and freshman forward Caterina Piatti added four more. Memphis sliced Florida's lead to one, 10-9 with 4:49 to go, but the Gators scored eight of the final nine points of the quarter to lead by eight. Florida's leading scorer entering the game, sophomore Liv McGill, heated up late in the period, and finished as the game's leading scorer after one with six. The Gators held Memphis to 3 of 16 shooting from the field in the first.

2nd Quarter (Gators 31, Tigers 20)

Florida's lead vacillated between eight and 10 points for most of the quarter until an O'Neal layup with just over three minutes to go before intermission gave the Gators their largest lead of the night to that point, 28-16. O'Neal, McGill and Alexia Dizeko each scored four points in the period, while Memphis; Cori Allen led all scorers with six.

3rd Quarter (Gators 52, Tigers 39)

Florida's lead remained in double figures or most of the stanza, and a mini 6-0 run midway through the quarter expanded the Gator's advantage to 18, 49-31. O'Neal (10 points) and McGill (9) scored as many points in the quarter as the Tigers did.

4th Quarter (Gators 74, Tigers 60)

The Gators extended their lead to as many as 19 as Memphis never got closer than 12 over the final 10 minutes of action. McGill and the Tigers' Daejah Richmond each scored eight in the period, while Florida enjoyed its best shooting quarter of the night connecting on nine of 15 shots from the floor.

KEY STATS

Florida shot 41.8% from the field (28-67), while Memphis shot 31.1% (19-61).
Florida outrebounded Memphis 51-37 including 18-13 on the offensive glass.
Florida outscored Memphis, 44-26, in the paint.
The Tigers went 20 for 28 from the free throw line while the Gators went 17 for 22.

FROM THE GATORS' MOUTHS

Coach Finley on the Grand Cayman Classic … "I just want to say 'thank you guys for having us.' This tournament has been excellent. Grand Cayman has hosted us exceptionally well. We're grateful to be here, and really appreciative to everybody who came out."
Coach Finley on playing in the Grand Cayman climate… "There was some humidity in the gym, but that's okay, we're from Florida, so it's not too different. We're used to the heat and the humidity."
Coach Finley on her overall impressions of the game and her team's play … "I loved it. I think that Memphis is a really good basketball team. They're scrappy. They're tough. They play hard. Alex is a tremendous head coach, We knew that tonight was going to be a challenge. I'm really proud of how we rose to the occasion. We train to be able to adapt, and I thought that really showed tonight."

GATOR BITES

The Gators are now 2-1 all-time against Memphis.
Liv McGill scored in double figures for the ninth straight game (27 points), and 20 or more points for the fifth time this season and the 18th time in her career.
Me'Arah O'Neal scored in double figures for the eighth straight game this season, and the 10th time in her career (24 points). She added nine rebounds, coming up just shy of her 5th double-double of the season.
Alexia Dizeko grabbed a career-high seven rebounds, and handed out a career-high tying five assists

NEXT OPPONENT
The Gators take on Georgia Tech in their second and final game of the Grand Cayman Classic, Saturday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. EST.

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