Gainesville, FL – Winthrop fell at Florida by a final score of 73-36 on Saturday afternoon to conclude both the non-conference portion of the schedule and 2023 for the Eagles.
 
Winthrop (6-7) | Florida (9-3)
Dec. 30, 2023 | Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Winthrop 36, Florida 73
 
How it Happened
 
First Quarter | Down 4-0, Angel Burgos got the Eagles on the board on a layup nearly two minutes in and Tiana Spann tied it with a layup of her own one minute later. Spann would then cut the lead to two at 11-9 with another score with five minutes left in the frame. Following Spann's basket, Florida scored nine straight points to take a 20-11 lead and held Winthrop scoreless for more than three minutes. Jada Ryce briefly stopped the run with a jumper inside of two minutes but the Gators ended the quarter by scoring the final seven points, entering the second quarter with a 27-11 lead.
 
Second Quarter | Florida scored the first 14 points of the second quarter, increasing their margin to 30 more than halfway through the frame. Spann was the only Eagle to score in the quarter, notching two layups. The Gators would lead 50-15 at halftime.
 
Third Quarter | Ryce began the second half with a jumper but the Gators did the same on their next two possessions. Florida eventually seized a 41-point lead on two occasions. Marissa Gasaway, Ronaltha Marc and Blessing Okoh were the only other Eagles to score in the third period, notching a combined 10 points. Okoh's triple just before the buzzer capped a 6-0 run to end the quarter for the Eagles, leaving them trailing 62-27 entering the fourth.
 
Fourth Quarter | The Gators scored the first seven points of the final quarter while holding Winthrop scoreless for nearly seven minutes, seizing their largest lead of the game at 42 with less than four minutes left. In the final three and a half minutes, Florida got one more field goal and a pair of free throws while Winthrop hit seven free throws and a field goal to end the day for both teams.
 
Statistical Standouts (Team)

• Winthrop moves to 604-898 all-time as a program.
• Leonor Paisana is now eight three-pointers away from moving into the Top 10 in school history in career triples.
• This was the first career start for Burgos and Spann in an Eagle uniform.
• Elli Garnett made her Winthrop debut, playing eight minutes.
• Winthrop has made more than 30% of their free throws in every single contest up to this point in the season.
• Winthrop finishes 6-7 in non-conference play.
• The two teams each got 12 points in the third quarter.
• Winthrop shot 45% from the field in the first quarter.
• Winthrop shot 56% from the free throw line in the game.
• This was Okoh's third game this season in double figures in points.

Statistical Standouts (Individual)
Blessing Okoh (28 min, 6-6 FT, 5 rebounds, 13 pts)
 
Up Next
Winthrop begins Big South play at Longwood on Wed., Jan. 3 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
FOLLOW US!
For all the up-to-date information on Winthrop Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter at @WinthropWBB, Instagram at winthropwbb and Facebook at facebook.com/WinthropWBB.