Florida Gators
3-0,0-0SEC
Chattanooga
1-2,0-0SoCon
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 12 | 12 | 17 | 23 | 64 |
| Chattanooga | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 58 |
Sunday, November 8, 2026 | Women's Basketball
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Florida Gators found themselves in a defensive slugfest against Chattanooga Sunday afternoon, but Vivian Iwuchuku discovered her shooting touch in the second half scoring 14 of her team-high 19 points after the intermission to help Florida hold on for the 64-58 win. The Gators are now 3-0 on the season, while the Mocs fall to 1-2.
Neither team led by more than six through three quarters as Florida was held to 34.2 percent shooting from the field over the first 30 minutes, and the Mocs made just 35.0 percent of their shots. Things were even more difficult from beyond the arc, where the Gators made 2 of 14, and Chattanooga hit 4 of 15.
Both teams began to pick up the offensive pace in the fourth, but the Gators used a mini 5-0 run to open the frame giving themselves a six-point advantage. It was still a 54-51 Florida lead with 5:24 to go, but a pair of Aurora Almón free throws, and buckets by Kiyomi McMiller and Vanessa Harris gave Florida its largest lead of the day, 60-51.
The Mocs had one last push in them, however, converting on a pair of late steals to slice the Gators lead to four, 62-58, with 18 seconds left. However, McMiller drained a pair of free throws with 4.7 to end the scoring, and send Florida home with its undefeated record intact.
The Mocs put a priority on clamping down on McMiller, the nation's leading scorer, limiting her to 5 points in the first half and 16 for the game. In her stead, Iwuchukwu recorded her second straight double-digit scoring effort.
Chattanooga's Izzy McPherson scored 10 points in the first half, but the Gators held her to just five after the intermission. Gabbie Grooms joined McPherson in double digits for the Mocs with 11 points as did TaTianna Stovall.
Florida returns home Thursday for a 6 p.m. ET tip against South Florida on SECN+.
KEY STATS
- Florida went 19 for 28 from the free throw line compared to 9 for 16 for the Mocs.
- The Gators outscored Chattanooga 17-7 in fast break points.
- Florida recorded 10 steals to 4 for the Mocs.
- Florida made 47.1 percent of its shots in the fourth quarter, while Chattanooga made 29.6 percent of theirs.
GATOR BITES
- Florida improved to 4-3 overall against Chattanooga and 2-0 on the road.
- Florida recorded a season-high 10 steals, tying their high-water mark for 2026-27 in the first half with seven picks.
- Vanessa Harris recorded a career-high 4 steals
- The Gators' 12 points in both the first and second quarters were the fewest they have scored in a period this season, and marked just the second and third quarters in which they have been held below 20 points this year (15 vs. Bucknell, 2nd quarter). They were also held below 20 points in the third quarter (17).
FROM THE GATORS' MOUTHS
Head Coach Tammi Reiss
On the team's offense coming alive in the fourth quarter after a tough first three...
" Coming into this game I knew they were going to double Kiy, trap her, and Vanessa as well, most of our aggressive, scoring guards. Once we calmed down, we really didn't calm down until the fourth quarter and execute, but once we executed and got the ball where it was supposed to go and run our offense, it looked really good. We did that for about ten minutes. So, not really happy with our overall execution of our game plan for three quarters, but that fourth quarter was nice. And it is always good to go on the road and get a win. You don't want to have to lose and learn from a loss. I'd rather learn from a win. "
Junior Vivian Iwuchukwu
On her offensive performance today ...
"Teams are going to start [keying on Kiyomi], but once I start having these kind of games, they are going to start collapsing on me too. Even today, they adjusted so fast mid game, and I was able to find my teammates whenever they did collapse, so I'm just going to continue to do that. I try not take bad shots, so if they collapse on me, I try to throw it out immediately. I try not to take bad shots, and I won't force anything, because I know I have great shooters on the perimeter."
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: X | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
