Florida to Square Off Against Arkansas on Super Sunday

Sunday, February 8

Gainesville, FL

12 p.m.

Florida Gators

Arkansas

Buy Tickets

Alexia Dizeko defending against Auburn in the Gators 61-53 win

Florida to Square Off Against Arkansas on Super Sunday

Saturday, February 7, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Pregame Notes

By: John Maxwell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With three weeks remaining in the regular season, Florida has six more opportunities to climb the SEC standings before tournament time beginning with a Sunday, Feb. 8 tilt against Arkansas (11-13, 0-9). Tip at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is 12 p.m. EST, and the game is being broadcast on SECN.

The Gators are in a tie for 13th place heading into the weekend, one game back of idle Mississippi State (3-7) in 12th, and three games behind ninth-place Kentucky (5-5). The top four seeds in the SEC Tournament get a double bye into the quarterfinals, while the five through eight seeds get a single bye, and the nine through 16 seeds play on day one of the tournament.

Florida is coming off of a 61-53 win over Auburn. It was a revenge game for the Gators who dropped a 60-50 decision to the Tigers earlier in the season. Laila Reynolds scored a team-high 17 points in the win, while Me'Arah O'Neal dropped a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double—her seventh of the season.

The Gators boast the seventh highest field goal percentage in the league in SEC play (.431), and the eighth best three-point field goal percentage (.318). Since the start of conference play, they are making an average of 6.4 three-pointers per game—eighth best in the SEC. On the defensive side of the ball, they hold league opponents to just 30.4 percent from beyond the arc, which is the sixth lowest percentage in the conference.

Arkansas is still in search of its first SEC win of the season under first-year head coach Kelsi Musick. She joined the Razorbacks after three successful seasons at Oral Roberts which saw her post a 57-39 record, including 45-20 over her final two years.

Arkansas went 11-4 in non-conference play, but against the SEC they have struggled defensively, allowing a league-high 87.2 points per game. Conference opponents are making 46.6 percent of their shots on the year (13th), and 37.3 percent from beyond the arc (15th).

The Razorbacks shine offensively from three-point range, connecting on 33.6 percent of their attempts (6th in the SEC). They make 8.44 threes per game against conference competition (4th), led by leading scorer Taleyah Jones. The senior guard averages 17.0 points per game, while making 39.3 percent from distance.

Florida is 32-13 all-time against Arkansas, including 15-4 at home. The Gators have won two straight in the series, including a 108-78 victory last season. That 30-point margin of victory is the largest such margin by either team in the series. Me'Arah O'Neal scored a team-high 19 points off the bench making six of seven shots from the field, including four of five from three-point range. As a team, Florida made 56.6 percent of its field goal attempts including 13 of 22 from long distance. That baker's dozen of made threes are the fourth highest total in a game in program history. Florida also grabbed 52 rebounds in the win.

ARKANSAS (11-13, 0-9)

Date: Sunday, Feb. 8
Time: 12 p.m. EST
Site: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Listen: WRUF 98.1 FM / 850 AM
Watch: SECN
Live stats: LiveStats

A FLORIDA WIN WOULD …

Move Florida to within a half game of Mississippi State (3-7 and off Sunday), and potentially a game back of Missouri (4-6 with a home game vs. Georgia Sunday at 4 p.m. EST).
Improve the Gators' record to 15-11 on the year, and 3-8 in the SEC.
Improve Florida's record to 12-4 at home this season.
Improve the Gators' record to 33-13 vs. Arkansas.

POSTSEASON PICTURE

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 Sunday's game, Florida is in a tie for 13th place with Auburn at 2-8.
With six games remaining in the regular season, the Gators' remaining schedule consists of games against Arkansas (16th seed heading into Sunday's games), Oklahoma (8th seed), Mississippi State (12th), Alabama (7th), Ole Miss (6th), and Georgia (10th).

TALE OF THE TAPE

Florida		Arkansas
73.8	PPG	73.5
65.4	OPP PPG	75.3
+8.4	SCORING MARGIN	-1.8
44.9	FG %	39.5
39.8	OPP FG%	41.1
28.0	3 FG%	33.9
28.5	OPP 3 FG%	33.1
5.2	3FG/G	8.1
70.2	FT %	73.8
38.3	REBOUNDS/G	42.3
36.3	OPP REBOUNDS/G	40.5
+2.0	REB MARGIN	+1.8
13.3	ASSISTS/G	12.8
16.9	TURNOVER/G	16.7
+0.79	A/TO RATIO	+0.77
9.9	STEALS/G	7.8
4.08	BLOCKS/G	3.71

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown/Previous School
Me'Arah O'Neal	8	6-4	F	So.	Houston Texas
Daviane Mindoudi	12	6-1	G	So.	Bilbao, Spain
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 Saturday, Feb. 7, Florida is … 12th in the SEC this season in points per game (73.8) … 13th in scoring defense (65.4) … 12th in scoring margin (+8.4) … 8th in field goal percentage (.449) … 10th in field goal percentage defense (.398) … 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.280) … 4th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.285) … 13th in free throw percentage (.702) … 9th in offensive rebound percentage (.359) … 15th in defensive rebound percentage (.657) … 13th in assists (13.3) … 9th in steals (9.98) … 10th in blocked shots (4.08).
In SEC games, Florida is ranked 11th in scoring (67.7), 12th in scoring defense (76.1) seventh in field goal percentage (.431), 12th in field goal percentage defense (.446), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.318), and sixth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.304).
The Gators have held 16 of 25 opponents below 70 points this season.
Florida is tied for 45th in the nation in free throws made per game (14.5), and 41st in free throw attempts per game (20.6) through games of Monday, Feb. 2.
Florida's NET rating, which helps determine which teams make the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, is No. 55 through games of Thursday, Feb. 5.
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 24th place with 1,119 career points., five points behind Bernice Mosby in 23rd with 1,124.
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 ten 25-5-5-5 games.

PROJECTED ARKANSAS STARTERS

	No.	Ht.	Pos.	Class	Hometown / Previous Schools
Taleyah Jones	10	5-10	G	Sr.	Broken Arrow, Okla. / Oral Roberts
Wyvette Mayberry	11	5-7	G	R-Sr.	Tulsa, Okla. / Kansas
Ashlynn Chlarson	21	6-3	C	Jr.	Pima, Ariz. / Eastern Arizona
Bonnie Deas	22	5-9	G	Fr.	Frankston, Melbourne, Australia /
Emily Robinson	23	5-10	G	Jr.	Caddo, Okla. / Oral Roberts

RAZORBACKS QUICK HITS

Members of the media and conference coaches tabbed Auburn to finish 16th in the SEC this season.
The Razorbacks are five years removed from their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021-22.
Arkansas last won 20 games in 2022-23 when they went 24-13, but the team's win total dropped to 18 and then 10 over the past two campaigns.
Although the Razorbacks have more wins this season than they did a year ago (11-13), they are 0-9 in conference play, and have won just two of their last 22 SEC contests.
Arkansas Head Coach Kelsi Musick is in her first season at the helm of the Razorbacks. She spent the previous seasons as the head coach at Oral Roberts where she went 57-39, including 45-20 over her final two years.
The Razorbacks are allowing a league-high 75.3 points per game on the season, and 87.2 points per game in SEC play.
Arkansas is 15th in the conference with a .395 field goal percentage, but they make 33.9 percent of their three-pointers which is seventh best in the SEC. Against league foes, the Razorbacks make 36.7 percent of their shots from the floor (14th), and 33.6 percent from distance (sixth).
Defensively, Arkansas allowed SEC teams to connect on 37.3 percent of their shots from beyond the arc
In conference play, senior guard Taleyah Jones ranks 10th in the SEC in scoring (17.0 ppg), ninth in field goal percentage (.463), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.393), and seventh in free throw percentage (.886).