Florida Women's Basketball: Bang!!! Aliyah Matharu calls game!!!

The Florida Gators take down a tough Columbia squad at the buxzzer to go 2-0 at Baha Mar.

By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com

Aliyah Matharu scored 26 points including the game winner as Florida bested Columbia 83-81 at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas. In a game that saw twelve lead changes including six in the last quarter, Florida needed every second on the score clock to take down its Ivy League opponent.

Trailing 81-80 after a Columbia layup with 1.6 seconds to go. Florida Coach Kelly Rae Finley drew up a play that was designed for a lob pass to center Ra’Shaya Kyle. Columbia had done their homework and was ready for the play. “The play was a lob to Shay, unfortunately we had run that play to a lot of success against Florida State so it was on tape.” With Kyle double teamed under the basket the ball was inbounded to Matharu who took one dribble turned to her right and knocked down the deciding shot. The Florida bench erupted in celebration of the and Matharu can now add a buzzer beater to her basketball resume’. “I’ve never hit a buzzer beater, ever”. Matharu gleefully stated.

Florida point guard Aliyah Matharu (Chris Spears photo)

With a clear size advantage it looked as if Florida would be able to impose their will on the much smaller Columbia team. The scrappy Columbia team instead used quickness and tenacity to outrebound Florida 34 to 28 including 12 to 9 on the offensive glass. It was some of those rebounds that allowed Columbia to have several extended possessions many which led to a few of Columbia’s eleven three-pointers.

Florida was able to counter the Columbia rebounding advantage with tenacious defense. The Gators were able to gather 9 steals, 4 blocks, and force Columbia into 19 turnovers. More impressive was the Gators ability to play defense without fouling. Only freshman Laila Reynolds had more than two fouls which is a testament to the continued emphasis of the Gators to be efficient on the defensive end.

The victory was a culmination of week that saw the Gators rebound from a close loss at home against Florida State to go undefeated in the Bahamas. On Monday afternoon Florida defeated Purdue 52-49 to begin the championship. Matharu again led the Gators in scoring with 14 points while shooting 7 of 7 from the free throw line. After taking down Columbia the Gators sit at 5-1 on the season.

Florida guard Leilani Correa (Chris Spears photo)

To round out the scoring in today’s win the Gators got 18 points from Kyle, 14 from Leilani Correa, and 10 from Faith Dut. The Gators will return home to Gainesville for the next 6 days before heading to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

In a special twist, for Thanksgiving dinner the team will be treated to a home cooked meal prepared by the Gators assistant coaches and staff.