Women's Basketball Welcomes No. 4 Texas to the O'Dome Thursday at 7 p.m.

Thursday, January 29

Gainesville, FL

7 p.m.

Florida Gators

Texas

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Jade Weathersby drives against No. 6/6 LSU

Women's Basketball Welcomes No. 4 Texas to the O'Dome Thursday at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Pregame Notes

By: John Maxwell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The most challenging stretch of the Florida Women's Basketball Team's schedule continues this Thursday as the Gators (13-9, 1-6) host No. 4/4 Texas (19-2, 4-2) at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. EST, and the game is being broadcast on SECN+.

The Longhorns matchup is the second of three consecutive games against ranked competition for Florida, as the Gators were at No. 6/6 at LSU on Monday, and travel to No. 5/6 Vanderbilt Sunday. No SEC team has ever played three consecutive games against top 6 teams over a seven-day stretch during the regular season, and based on available research, no Division I team in the modern era has accomplished that feat either.

The Gators are coming off of a tough 89-60 loss to LSU which saw Florida hold the Tigers NCAA-leading offense to just 36 points in the first half. LSU's Jade Richard scored 14 of her game-high 20 points after the intermission to help the Tigers to their 19th win of the season. Liv McGill led the Gators with 14 points in the defeat.

The sophomore point guard now has 1,070 points in her collegiate career, 28 points behind Jana Bragg '88 on the Gators career scoring chart.

McGill has also put herself in the running for the Nancy Lieberman Award presented annually to the Division I Women's Basketball player who exemplifies the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Nancy Lieberman during her career. The sophomore was left off the 20-player preseason list, but the mid-season watch list is due to come out at the end of the month. McGill is averaging 23.0 points, 5.8 assists and 2.85 steals per game, while the 20 players on the preseason list are averaging a collective 14.4 points, 5.2 assists and 2.17 steals.

Texas opened the 2025-26 season with 15 straight non-conference wins, and three consecutive SEC victories, before dropping a pair of top-10 road decisions at LSU (70-65) and South Carolina (68-65). The Longhorns rebounded to best Texas A&M 80-35 on Jan. 18, and their game against Arkansas, originally scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25, was postponed until Feb. 19 due to the inclement weather that blanketed much of the contiguous 48 over the weekend.

Texas ranks fifth in the nation in scoring average (88.8 ppg), and field goal percentage (.508), while outscoring opponents by 35.8 points per game (third in the country). Defensively, the Longhorns allow the opposition to score just 53.0 points per game (fifth in the nation) and connected on 35.9 percent of their field goal attempts (22nd).

In conference play, Texas' offensive output drops to 77.2 points per game, and 45.8 shooting from the field, but the team's defense holds SEC teams to 57.3 points per game (lowest in the league), and 37.3 percent from the floor (fourth lowest in the SEC).

Junior forward Madison Booker is averaging 19.0 points per game to lead the Longhorns' offense, while also chipping in 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.57 steals per game. Sophomore guard Jordan Lee adds 14.2 points per game, while making 35.2 percent of her shots from three-point range, and 6-6 senior center Kyla Oldacre is averaging 11.7 points while connecting on 64.3 percent of her field goal attempts on the year. Three other Longhorns are averaging more than nine points per game.

The Gators and Longhorns have squared off against one another on just five previous occasions, with Florida owning a 3-2 edge in the series. The first four meetings came back in the 1990s, but Texas picked up a 72-46 victory in the team's inaugural SEC season a year ago (box score). Florida made just 33.3 percent of its shots from the field, including one of 18 from beyond the arc. Ra Shaya Kyle (12 points) and Liv McGill (nine) paced the Gators offense, while Kyla Oldacre came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points for the Longhorns.

TEXAS (19-2, 4-2)

Date: Thursday, Jan. 29
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Site: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Listen: WRUF 98.1 FM / 850 AM
Watch: SECN
Live stats: SideArm

A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …

Improve the Gators' record to 14-9 on the year, and 2-6 in the SEC.
Improve Florida's record to 11-3 at home this season.
Improve the Gators' record to 4-2 vs. Texas.
Be Florida's first win against a nationally-ranked opponent since Mar. 6, 2025 (63-61 vs. No. 20 Alabama, SEC Tournament).

TALE OF THE TAPE

Florida		Texas
75.0	PPG	88.8
64.1	OPP PPG	53.0
+10.8	SCORING MARGIN	+35.8
44.9	FG %	50.8
38.6	OPP FG%	35.9
27.1	3 FG%	31.3
27.9	OPP 3 FG%	27.4
5.2	3FG/G	4.0
70.5	FT %	70.9
39.1	REBOUNDS/G	40.4
37.0	OPP REBOUNDS/G	30.4
+2.0	REB MARGIN	+10.0
13.4	ASSISTS/G	18.7
16.5	TURNOVER/G	11.1
+0.81	A/TO RATIO	+1.6
10.1	STEALS/G	13.1
4.14	BLOCKS/G	5.24

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown/Previous School
Me'Arah O'Neal	8	6-4	F	So	Houston Texas
Emilija Dakic	7	5-10	G	Fr.	Melbourne, Australia
Laila Reynolds	13	6-1	G	Jr.	PG County, Md.
Caterina Piatti	14	6-4	F	Fr.	Scandiano, Italy
Liv McGill	23	5-9	G	So	Minneapolis, Minn.

GATOR BITES

Through games of Monday, Jan. 26, Florida is … 11th in the SEC this season in points per game (75.0) … 13th in scoring defense (64.1) … 12th in scoring margin (+10.8) … 8th in field goal percentage (.449) … 10th in field goal percentage defense (.386) … 15th in three-point field goal percentage (.271) … 5th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.279) … 11th in free throw percentage (.705) … 9th in offensive rebound percentage (.356) … 15th in defensive rebound percentage (.660) … 12th in assists (13.4) … tied for 8th in steals (10.1) … 11th in blocked shots (4.14).
The Gators have held 15 of 22 opponents below 70 points this season.
In SEC games, Florida is ranked 10th in scoring (68.9), sixth field goal percentage (.426), and eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.305).
Florida is ranked 41st in the nation in free throws made per game (14.8), and 37th in free throw attempts per game (21.0) through games of Monday, January 19.
Florida's NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, is No. 54 through games of Monday, Jan. 26.
Liv McGill became the 28th player in Florida Women's Basketball history to score 1,000 points in her career when she connected on a free throw line jumper in the second quarter, Jan. 11 at Auburn. She is now in 25th place with 1,070 career points, 28 points behind Janna Bragg in 24th with 1,098.
Liv McGill and Me'Arah O'Neal have each earned SEC Player of the Week honors this season.
Liv McGill became the first player in Gators women's basketball history to be named a US Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week on Tuesday, Nov. 11. She averaged 27.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 5.00 steals while connecting on 40.9 percent of her three-point field goal attempts in Florida's three wins. She also was named the SEC Player of the Week for her performance during that same stretch of games.
Liv McGill was named the most outstanding player of the Grand Cayman Classic over Thanksgiving weekend when she averaged 27.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.00 steals and 1.00 blocked shots.
Liv McGill has three games this season of at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. The other 4,500-+ players competing in women's basketball at the Division I level have eight 25-5-5-5 games … combined.

PROJECTED TEXAS STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown / Previous Schools
Rori Harmon	3	5-6	G	Gr.	Houston, Texas /
Jordan Lee	7	6-0	G	So.	Stockton, Calif. /
Justice Carlton	11	6-1	F	So.	Katy, Texas /
Breya Cunningham	25	6-0	G	Jr.	Bossier City, La. / Arizona
Madison Booker	35	6-0	G	Jr.	Opelousas, La. /

LONGHORNS QUICK HITS

Members of the media picked Texas to finished second in the SEC this season, while league coaches predicted they would win the conference.
Members of the media and coaches selected Madison Booker as the league's preseason player of the year, and Rori Harmon to the preseason All-SEC Second Team.
Texas has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons, and won 30 or more games in each of the past two years.
The Longhorns are averaging 88.8 points per game which is the fifth highest scoring average in the nation, although that figure drops to 77.2 points per game in SEC play.
Texas allows opponents to score 53.0 points per game which is the fifth lowest opponent scoring average in the country. In conference play, that figure is an SEC-leading 57.3 points per game.
In SEC games, the Longhorns are grabbing a league-best 44.3 percent of available offensive rebounds.
Texas makes a league-low 2.83 three pointers per game in SEC competition. They are also connecting on a conference-low 21.3 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.