Women's Basketball Drops Season-Opening SEC Test at Florida

Monday, November 6

Gainesville, Fla.

5:30 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-1,0-0ASUN

Florida

1-0,0-0SEC

North Florida

Florida

Photo by: Florida Athletics

11/6/2023 8:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Adams and Washington Combine for 27 Points in Osprey Debuts

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - North Florida women's basketball (0-1) showed fight through all 40 minutes, but ultimately fell short in its season opener on the road against Florida (1-0), 82-65, on Monday evening.

The Ospreys had four players score in the double-digits with Jayla Adams leading the pack with 14 points, which matches her career-high, in her first outing with UNF as a graduate transfer. Kaila Rougier, Sarah Taub and Alexa Washington joined Adams with at least 10 points and four field goals made.

Washington had an Osprey debut to remember as well with 13 points, including three makes from downtown, and four rebounds against the Gators. She becomes the first UNF true freshman since Jadhken Kerr in 2008 to score double-digit points in career debut.

UF 82, UNF 65

RECORDS

North Florida | 0-1
Florida | 1-0

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

First Half: The first points of the season were scored by Adams on a driving layup during her first start as an Osprey...Selma Eklund fought in the paint for back-to-back buckets in her first Osprey start as well...UNF ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run with Taub scoring two of the three baskets...Washington made the first three-pointer of the year in her first collegiate appearance to keep it a single-digit deficit...another make from Washington on a fast break, followed by another pair of scores from Taub, kept it a six-point game heading into the half.

Second Half: After UF extended its lead to open the second half, Washington stopped the bleeding with an eight-point run that included a pair of three-pointers...Adams responded with back-to-back layups to cut it back to a seven-point deficit nearing the end of the third quarter...Rougier started the action in the fourth from downtown, followed by Lyric Swann's three moments later...the Ospreys scored its next five field goals on fast breaks, including back-to-back steal-and-scores from Swann and Rougier...Helena Rafnsdottir earned her first points with under a minute left, but it was too much of a deficit to overcome in the 82-65 season-opening loss.

LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS

COACH'S THOUGHTS

"Overall, I was pleased by our first outing tonight and I thought our effort was consistent. The girls never backed down even though we were outmatched physically by Florida's size. I think we had some jitters in the first half and that's understandable. We needed to take care of the ball better, but we made some halftime adjustments and were able to execute for more of the three-point looks we wanted. All throughout the summer and preseason, we've preached our core value - 'Compete no matter what.' We struggled in the third quarter, but didn't fold and ended up playing them even in the fourth."
-- head coach Erika Lambert

NOTES

First game as the head coach of UNF for Erika Lambert.
Most points scored against a Power Five opponent since Nov. 30, 2021, against Auburn.
Adams started in her Osprey debut, while Eklund picked up her first start as well at UNF.
The graduate played a well-rounded game with 14 points, five assists and four boards in 34 minutes played.
Tyra Brown and Kyla Cain, along with Washington, each made their collegiate debuts at Florida.