SAVANNAH, Ga. — Florida got back in the women’s basketball win column Tuesday after defeating Richmond 87-80 in the Savannah Invitational at the Savannah Civic Center.
Funda Nakkasoglu scored a game-high 25 points for the Gators (2-2), who dropped the Spiders to 3-2. The Florida junior had a lot of help in setting the program record for 3s in a game, as six different Gators combined to hit 15-of-30 from the arc, passing the previous standard of 13 UF hit at Arkansas on Feb. 1, 2009.
Delicia Washington followed with 16 points and Haley Lorenzen added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
In spite of Florida’s prowess from deep, the Gators still needed to secure the win at the free throw line, where Dyandria Anderson (4-6), Lorenzen (2-2), Washington (3-4) and Paulina Hersler (1-2) combined to coolly convert 10-of-12 in the final three minutes.
The Gators will play Stetson (2-2) at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Savannah State at 7 p.m. Thursday.
VOLLEYBALL
No. 3 Gators cap home schedule against Auburn
Florida, which stayed at No. 3 in the AVCA Top 25 and No. 2 in the NCAA RPI for a second consecutive week, plays its final home match of the regular season Wednesday night against Auburn. ESPNU will televise the 7 p.m.
The Gators (23-1, 15-1 SEC) are 13-1 in their first season back in the post-renovations O’Connell Center. A 14th home win would mark the first time since 2013 Florida won that many regular season matches in Gainesville.
Florida continues to be the only team in the nation with three wins over current top-8 teams in the RPI, and is tied with Kentucky atop the Southeastern Conference standings. Should the two share the SEC title and be crowned co-champions, Florida holds the tiebreaker for the league’s “automatic qualifying” berth for the NCAA Tournament by way of winning four sets compared to three in the two head-to-head matchups with Kentucky.
Auburn enters with a 15-10 (8-8 SEC) mark.
SWIMMING
Dressel honored at Golden Goggles
Florida’s own Caeleb Dressel was honored at USA Swimming’s Golden Goggles Awards on Sunday night, taking home two prestigious awards. Dressel was named Male Athlete of the Year for his historic performance in Budapest this past summer at the 17th FINA World Championships.
The Green Cove Springs native won seven gold medals at the Championships, putting his name alongside Michael Phelps as the only two people to ever accomplish that feat. He was the first person to win three gold medals in a day at either a World Championship or the Olympics.
Dressel also won the Male Race of the Year award for his 49.86 gold medal winning performance in the 100m fly. With that swim, Dressel recorded the fastest time in textile history and is now just .04 seconds off Michael Phelps’ world record.
The senior sprinter set American records in the 50m free, 100m free and 50m fly on his way to seven gold medals. Dressel helped set two world records in the mixed 400 free relay and mixed 400 medley relay during the meet.
