Thursday, February 26
Gainesville, FL
6 p.m.
Florida Gators
vs
Ole Miss
Florida's bench erupts during the Gators' recent meeting with Alabama.
Gators Host #19/20 Ole Miss Thursday in Final Home Game of Season
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 | Women's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The final week of the 2025-26 regular season is upon us, and Florida's Women's Basketball Team closes out the home portion of its schedule Thursday, Feb. 26 with a 6 p.m. EST tip against #19/20 Ole Miss.
The Gators are 4-10 in SEC play, and tied for 13th place with Missouri, a game behind both Texas A&M and Mississippi who are 5-9 and tied for 11th. Wins in each of Florida's last two games could boost the Gators as high as the 11 seed. Regardless of the final standings, Florida will play its first SEC Tournament game on Wednesday, March 4 in Greenville, S.C. Specific game times and opponents will be announced Sunday afternoon.
Remaining Regular Season Schedules
| Thursday, Feb. 26 | Sunday, Mar. 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State (5-9) | Texas A&M (5-9) | LSU (10-4) |
| Texas A&M (5-9) | Mississippi State (5-9) | Ole Miss (8-6) |
| Florida (4-10) | Ole Miss (8-6) | Georgia (7-7) |
| Missouri (4-10) | South Carolina (13-1) | Oklahoma (9-5) |
Florida has won three of its last five games entering the final week, with both losses coming to top-25 competition—91-74 at #10/10 Oklahoma, and 76-71 vs. #25/24 Alabama. Ole Miss has dropped three of its last four games, and four of its last six, but like Florida, each of their losses have come against top-25 competition, most recently in an 85-48 loss to #3/3 South Carolina, and 78-70 to #7/7 LSU. The Rebels most recent win was a 94-81 victory over #21/22 Tennessee.
Ole Miss has been consistently ranked between 12th and 18th nationally throughout the entire season until the team's most recent results dropped them to 19. The Rebels are one of the best teams in the SEC at cleaning the glass, ranking fifth in offensive rebound percentage (.373) and sixth in defensive rebound percentage (.697) against SEC opponents. Only two other teams in the conference are ranked in the top six in both categories—LSU and Oklahoma. Ole Miss is also fourth in the league in blocked shots (5.14 bpg) vs. league foes.
The Rebels have three players averaging more than five rebounds per game in conference play led by Christeen Iwuala (sixth at 8.3 rpg), Latasha Lattimore (13th at 6.9 rpg), and Cotie McMahon (5.6 rpg). Lattimore is also Ole Miss' leading shot blocker, swatting the second most attempts per game in the SEC since the start of 2026 (2.36 bpg).
If the Rebels have an Achilles Heal it is their three-point shooting. None of the team's starting five is connecting on better than 28.3 percent from distance, and as a team, they make 27.8 percent on the year, which ranks last in the SEC.
Florida is 24-26 all-time against Ole Miss, and the Rebels have won seven straight games including a 94-69 victory on Jan. 16 of last year. Ole Miss forced the Gators into 29 turnovers which the Rebels flipped into 42 points. Sira Thienou scored 29 points on 12 of 17 shooting from the field, and five of six from deep, in the victory.
OLE MISS (21-8, 8-6)
- Date: Thursday, Feb. 26
- Time: 6 p.m. EST
- Site: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
- Listen: WRUF 98.1 FM / 850 AM
- Watch: SECN+
- Live stats: StatBroadcast
- Improve the Gators' record to 17-13 on the year—guaranteeing their fifth consecutive winning season—and 5-9 in the SEC.
- Move Florida (4-10) into a tie for 12th place with either Mississippi State (5-9) or Texas A&M (5-9). The Bulldogs and Aggies play one another Thursday beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
- Improve Florida's record to 13-5 at home this season.
- Improve the Gators' record to 25-26 all-time vs. Ole Miss, and snap a seven-game losing streak to the Rebels.
- Be Florida's first win against a nationally-ranked opponent since Mar. 6, 2025 (63-61 vs. No. 20 Alabama, SEC Tournament).
- The 2026 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament is being held at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. from March 4-8.
- All 16 teams make the tournament
- The top four seeds have a double bye into the quarterfinals on March 6.
- The five through the eight seeds have a bye into the second round on March 5.
- The nine through 16 seeds play in the first round on March 4 with 9 playing 16, 10 playing 15, 11 playing 14 and 12 playing 13.
- Entering Thursday's game, Florida is tied for 13th place with Missouri (4-10), and a game back of Texas A&M (5-9) and Mississippi State who ar tied for 11th.
- With two games left in the regular season, the Gators' remaining schedule consists of games against Ole Miss (T-6th), and Georgia (T-8th).
| Florida | Ole Miss | |
|---|---|---|
| 73.6 | PPG | 76.2 |
| 66.1 | OPP PPG | 60.3 |
| +7.6 | SCORING MARGIN | +15.9 |
| 44.8 | FG % | 43.3 |
| 40.2 | OPP FG% | 40.0 |
| 28.7 | 3 FG% | 27.8 |
| 29.3 | OPP 3 FG% | 30.1 |
| 5.4 | 3FG/G | 4.3 |
| 69.8 | FT % | 73.4 |
| 38.1 | REBOUNDS/G | 40.9 |
| 36.3 | OPP REBOUNDS/G | 32.7 |
| +1.8 | REB MARGIN | +8.2 |
| 13.3 | ASSISTS/G | 14.2 |
| 16.9 | TURNOVER/G | 14.0 |
| +0.79 | A/TO RATIO | +1.02 |
| 9.6 | STEALS/G | 8.5 |
| 3.90 | BLOCKS/G | 5.14 |
PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown/Previous School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me'Arah O'Neal | 8 | 6-4 | F | So. | Houston Texas |
| Alexia Dizeko | 9 | 5-11 | G | Gr. | Sion, Switzerland |
| 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 Wednesday, Feb. 25, Florida is … 11th in the SEC this season in points per game (73.7) … 10th in scoring defense (66.1) … 12th in scoring margin (+7.55) … 8th in field goal percentage (.448) … 11th in field goal percentage defense (.402) … 13th in three-point field goal percentage (.287) … fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.293) … 13th in free throw percentage (.698) … 10th in offensive rebound percentage (.352) … 13th in defensive rebound percentage (.661) … 13th in assists (13.3) … 8th in steals (9.59) … 10th in blocked shots (3.90).
- In SEC games, Florida is tied for ninth in scoring (69.1) … 12th in scoring defense (74.5) … fifth in field goal percentage (.434) … 11th in field goal percentage defense (.440) … seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.322) … and eighth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.314).
- The Gators have held 17 of 29 opponents below 70 points this season, and nine opponents below 60 points.
- Florida is 43rd in the nation in free throws made per game (14.5), and 34th in free throw attempts per game (20.8) through games of Monday, Feb. 23.
- Florida's NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, is No. 50 through games of Monday, Feb. 23.
- 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 21st place with 1,222 career points, 35 points behind Jennifer George in 20th with 1,257.
- Liv McGill was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Mid-Season List along with Kentucky's Tonie Morgan, NC State's Zoe Brooks, Nebraska's Britt Prince, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, Oklahoma's Aaliyah Chavez, South Carolina's Raven Johnson, TCU's Olivia Miles, Texas' Rori Harmon, and UCLA's Kiki Rice.
- 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 11 games with 25-5-5-5.
| No. | Ht. | Pos. | Class | Hometown / Previous Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sira Thienou | 0 | 6-1 | G | So. | Bamako, Mali / |
| Latasha Lattimore | 8 | 6-4 | F | Sr. | Toronto, Ont. / Virginia |
| Christeen Iwuala | 12 | 6-3 | F | Sr. | San Antonio, Texas / UCLA |
| Debreasha Powe | 21 | 6-1 | G/F | Sr. | Meridian, Miss. / Mississippi State |
| Cotie McMahon | 32 | 6-0 | F | Sr. | Dayton, Ohio / Ohio State |
REBELS QUICK HITS
- Members of the media and league coaches both tabbed Ole Miss to finish sixth in the SEC this season.
- League coaches and media also both named Cotie McMahon to the preseason Second Team All-SEC.
- The Rebels have won 20 or more games and made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons following a 14-year drought.
- Ole Miss ranks 20th in the nation in rebound differential (+8.2 rpg), and 18th in blocked shots (5.14 bpg). In SEC play, their rebound differential drops to +4.9 which is the fifth best in the league.
- The Rebels make 27.8 percent of their three-point field goal attempts on the year, which is last in the SEC. None of their top four scorers makes better than 28.3 percent from distance.
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