Florida women beat No. 19 Ole Miss 74-67 for 1st victory over ranked team this season

By Canadian Press on February 26, 2026.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Liv McGill had 28 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Laila Reynolds added 14 points, and Florida beat No. 19 Mississippi 74-67 on Thursday night for its first victory over a ranked opponent this season.

Florida (17-13, 5-10 SEC) snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series.

McGill found Reynolds for an alley-oop layup in transition for a 63-51 lead early in the fourth during a 12-1 run.

But Ole Miss scored the next nine points, with two 3-pointers from Tianna Thompson, to get within 65-60 with 4:13 left. The Rebels would not get closer that five points the rest of the way as Me’Arah O’Neal and McGill combined to go 4 of 4 at the stripe in the final 1:16 to secure it.

Florida (17-13, 5-10 SEC) shot 59% from the field and outscored Ole Miss 46-20 inside the paint. McGill made a layup early in the third quarter to break Florida’s single-season scoring record, passing Tonya Washington’s mark of 631 points.

Thompson set career highs with 25 points and seven 3-pointers for Ole Miss (21-9, 8-7). Cotie McMahon added 15 points and Christeen Iwuala had 10. Latasha Lattimore, the Rebels’ third-leading scorer, was injured in the third and did not return.

Florida closed the first half on a 15-5 run to take a 40-37 lead into the break. McGill led the Gators with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Ole Miss went without a field goal for the final five minutes of the first half.

Up next

Ole Miss: Returns home to play Texas A&M on Sunday in a regular-season finale for both teams.

Florida: Goes on the road to face No. 23 Georgia to conclude its season.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

The Associated Press