McGill's 25-Point, 14-Rebound Double-Double, O'Neal's 16 Points Lead Gators Past Arkansas 75-69

Sunday, February 8

Gainesville, FL

12 p.m.

Florida Gators

15-11,3-8SEC

Arkansas

11-14,0-10SEC

Arkansas

Florida

McGill's 25-Point, 14-Rebound Double-Double, O'Neal's 16 Points Lead Gators Past Arkansas 75-69

Sunday, February 8, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Game Book Photo Gallery

By: John Maxwell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators never trailed Sunday, as Liv McGill nearly recorded her second career triple-double (25 points, career-high 14 rebounds, 8 assists), and Me'Arah O'Neal added 16 points and six boards in a 75-69 victory over visiting Arkansas. The win improved Florida's record to 15-11 on the season and 3-8 in the SEC, a half game back of Mississippi State in the conference standings.

KEY RUNS
1st Quarter (Gators 19, Razorbacks 17)

Florida built a 15-8 lead through the first 3:59 of play, but the Razorbacks closed the gap to two by quarter's end scoring eight of the final 12 points of the period. Taleyah Jones led all scorers with eight points, while Me'Arah paced the Gators with six. Liv McGill put the arena on triple-double alert by scoring four points, grabbing five rebounds, and handing out three assists in the first.

2nd Quarter (Gators 33, Razorbacks 29)

The Gators scored seven of the first nine in the second to extend their lead back out to seven, and a pair of Jade Weathersby free throws with 2:37 on the clock made it a 10-point Florida advantage, 31-21. Arkansas once again closed the gap by scoring eight of the last 10 points heading into the break. Both teams turned up the defensive pressure in the quarter as Florida went five for 15 from the field, and Arkansas went five for 17.

3rd Quarter (Gators 54, Razorbacks 45)

Florida was up seven, 42-35 with 5:31 remaining in the third, when an 11-4 run over the next four-plus minutes gave the Gators their largest lead of the day at 14. Arkansas scored the final five points in the period to reduce the lead bac below double-digits. Liv McGill scored eight points in the quarter to lead Florida, and Emily Robinson's 10 points for the Razorbacks led all scorers.

4th Quarter (Gators 75, Razorbacks 69)

The Gators led by 13, 67-54, with 4:13 to go when Arkansas made its final run slicing the Florida advantage to four, 72-68, with :31 seconds remaining. Liv McGill knocked down a trio of free throws down the stretch to ice the game. Taleyah Jones scored nine points on three triples to lead the Razorbacks comeback attempt, while McGill's 10 points led all scorers.

KEY STATS

The Gators made 38.8% of their field goal attempts (26 of 67), while the Razorbacks made 34.8% of theirs (23 of 66).
Florida went eight for 24 from three-point range, while Arkansas made nine of 31.
Florida went 15 for 21 from the free throw line while the Razorbacks made 14 of 18.
The Gators had 17 assists on 26 made baskets.
Florida forced Arkansas into committing 19 turnovers which they flipped into 16 points, while the Razorbacks forced 15 Gators' miscues, and turned them into 11 points.

FROM THE GATORS' MOUTHS (Coming Soon)

Coach Finley opening statement…
- "I thought that was a gritty overall performance from our team. You know Arkansas has been in a lot of games, it's a tough ball club every time. They shot 43 three's last time out, we held them to nine makes. I think they had a couple of those late, they probably had six in the game until those last two minutes there. I thought we were really well prepared, I thought we were committed to executing the game plan. They came out in the zone, and I thought our student athletes did a tremendous job of adjusting and adapting within that game. I thought we were able to make adjustments in game, and do so seamlessly and I thought that was a good win for the Gators."
Coach Finley on what was working for Liv McGill to get a career high 14 rebounds…
- "I think Liv played a complete game today. She knew that Laila was feeling a little bit under the weather and so these two understood the assignment that they might have to do a little bit more of the heavy lifting. I think Me'Arah, Cat and Gift did a great job of holding off their forwards so you're not always the one who comes up with the ball, but they did a great job to allow our guards to fly in and rebound out of their area. Fourteen rebounds and 10 fouls drawn, I thought Liv did an excellent job of attacking the hedge, attacking the hip and drawing fouls which resulted in some free throws for the Gators. Eight assists, three turnovers and four steals, that's a pretty complete floor game and I think that's what we expect for her."
Me'Ara O'Neal on increasing her percentage of free throws throughout SEC play…
- "I said this before, I get really excited when I shoot three pointers. It makes me excited and gets me going, so I'm super proud of it."
Liv McGill on her near triple double and how she impacts the game in different ways…
- "I just go out there and play. My teammates and my coaching staff believe in me so I just go out there and do whatever is needed. I ended up getting 14 rebounds, I don't even know how I did that, but shout out to my forwards for holding out and boxing out. It's drill work, we practice rebounding with two hands and so it's about time I help them out actually."

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

GATOR BITES

The Gators are now 33-13 all-time against Arkansas, and have won three straight in the series.
Liv McGill scored in double figures for the 26th straight game (25 points). She also added a career-high 14 rebounds for the fifth double-double of her career. She missed out on her second career triple-double by two assists (8).
Liv McGill's 25 points in the game give her (1,144) for her career, moving her past Bernice Mosby '05 (1,124) into 23rd place on the Gators' career scoring chart. Haley Lorenzen '18 is next on the list with 1,214 points.
Me'Arah O'Neal scored in double figures for the 19th time this season (16 points).
Caterina Piatti scored in double figures for the third time this season (10 points), and the first time in SEC play. She also connected on a career-high two three-pointers.

NEXT OPPONENT
The Gators travel to Norman, Okla. Thursday, Feb. 12 for a 7 p.m. EST tip against the 11th ranked Sooners (17-5, 5-4). The game is being broadcast on SECN+.

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