McGill Scores 29, O’Neal Drops 14-Point, 11-Rebound Double-Double in 76-51 Win over Florida A&M

Wednesday, December 17

Gainesville, FL

3 p.m.

Florida Gators

11-2,0-0SEC

Florida A&M

0-9,0-0SWAC

Florida A&M

Florida

McGill Scores 29, O’Neal Drops 14-Point, 11-Rebound Double-Double in 76-51 Win over Florida A&M

Wednesday, December 17, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Game Book Photo Gallery

By: John Maxwell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Liv McGill poured in 29 points, and Me'Arah O'Neal posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double as the Gators improved to 11-2 on the year with a 76-51 victory over visiting Florida A&M (0-9).

KEY RUNS
1st Quarter (Rattlers 19, Gators 14)

The Rattlers scored six unanswered points early to turn a 5-5 tie into an 11-5 lead. Florida A&M's Camille Jackson, seeing her first action of the 2025-26 season, scored 11 points in the period making four of seven shots from the floor. The Gators committed six turnovers, while Florida A&M committed three leading to a 6-2 Rattlers' advantage in points off turnovers. Florida A&M had three players pick up two fouls each in the first.

2nd Quarter (Gators 38, Rattlers 26)

Florida scored the first six points of the second to regain the lead, and a subsequent 18-5 run put the Gators up by 14, 38-24. The Gators held Camille Jackson scoreless in the second after her 11-point first quarter performance. Florida went 9 for 14 from the field, (.643) compared to two for nine (.222) for the Rattlers. The Gators held the Florida A&M to seven points in the quarter, which marks the 11th time this season that Florida has held an opponent below 10 points in a period. Liv McGill (10 points) and Laila Reynolds (8 points) both outscored A&M by themselves over the second 10 minutes of play.

3rd Quarter (Gators 55, Rattlers 40)

Florida A&M scored the first three points out of the intermission, but the Gators rattled off 13 of the next 18 points to go up 17, 51-34, with 1:57 remaining in the period. Florida made eight of 11 shots from the floor, while the Rattlers went four for 13. The Gators committed eight turnovers in the quarter compared to three for A&M.

4th Quarter (Gators 76, Rattlers 51)

The Rattlers never got any closer than 15 points in the fourth, as the Gators scored the last seven points of the game for the final 25-point margin of victory. Florida went seven for 12 from the field as Liv McGill led all scorers with eight points.

KEY STATS

Florida shot a season-high 58.3% from the field (28-48), while the Rattlers shot 32.7% (17-52).
Florida went 17 for 28 from the free throw line, while Florida A&M made 13 of 24.
The Gators outscored the Rattlers 50-18 in the paint, and 14-8 in second chance points.
The Gators outrebounded Florida A&M 40-27.
The Rattlers' bench outscored Florida's bench 22-15

FROM THE GATORS' MOUTHS

Coach Finley on how they keep the momentum going heading into SEC play…
- "Winning is hard. Winning is really hard. Laila and Me'Arah know that, they understand that. I think that it takes a lot of consistency. We're a young team, we're fighting. I'm proud of these two, I'm proud of their leadership, I'm proud of their buy in. I thought Me'Arah took a tremendous step forward tonight. Laila was obviously in some foul trouble, I thought she was doing some great things, she looked good out there. The foul trouble is going to get you sometimes, right? But I thought Me'Arah did an exceptionally good job of taking that next step forward in her leadership, her demeanor, her body language, her communication and her talk in a competitive setting where she knew that eyes were on her to lead and guide our team."
Coach Finley on how Caterina Piatti has grown and is really starting to show her skills on the court…
- "Over the course of the last week I saw her become more and more comfortable. I was hearing her voice more and more. She's stepping out of her comfort zone and kind of getting to what she does. Like Me'Arah said, Cat is very versatile. She can guard a lot of different positions, she can play inside and outside, and so the two of them playing together are very dynamic. She's young, she's a freshman, it's her first year in the states and we're proud of where she's at. I know that she's a competitor though and she only wants to get better and better, which is what her trajectory will be."
Coach Finley and Me'Arah O'Neal on the Gators' defense throughout the game and their consistency in the season...
- "We're a better defensive team than that. We're one of the better defensive teams in the country. We hang our hat on that, and so I just challenged our team that we should play to our standard."
- "We take pride in our defense. We talk about staying in the stance, staying disciplined and guarding ours so I just think we emphasize that throughout the whole game."

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

GATOR BITES

The Gators are now 14-5 all-time against Florida A&M.
Florida is now 33-3 at home in the months of November and December, and 14-1 in December, during the Kelly Rae Finley-era.
Florida is now 8-0 at home this season, and has won 15 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents.
The Gators held the Rattlers to fewer than 10 points in the third quarter, which marks the 11th time this season that Florida has held an opponent below 10 points in a period.
Florida made 58.3 percent of its shots on the day, which is their highest percentage of the season.
The Gators have held each of their 13 opponents this season below 70 points.
Liv McGill scored in double figures for the 14th straight game (29 points), and recorded her ninth game this year with 20 or more points.
Me'Arah O'Neal recorded her sixth double-double of the season (14 points, 11 rebounds).
Caterina Piatti recorded a career-high five steals, and handed out a career-high three assists.

NEXT OPPONENT
The Gators are back in action this Sunday, July 21 for a 2:45 p.m. EST tip against at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. It is the back end of a men's-women's double-header, and is being broadcast on SECN+.

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