Florida women's basketball gets best of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 73-64

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Zippy Broughton scored 20 points, Kiara Smith had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and No. 23 Florida beat Mississippi State 73-64 on Thursday night.

Florida led by 11 points with 5:03 remaining but JerKaila Jordan had a personal 8-0 run to pull Mississippi State within 65-62 with 2:54 left. Broughton sank a 3-pointer from the wing to give Florida some momentum and Jeriah Warren made a layup on their next possession for a 71-62 lead.

Emanuely de Oliveira added 13 points for Florida (18-6, 8-3 SEC), which has won eight of its last nine. The Gators entered the top 25 polls this week, sitting at No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Florida outrebounded Mississippi State's small lineup 45-29, leading to a 14-3 edge in second-chance points. The Gators also got 21 points off their bench compared to the Bulldogs' one.

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Anastasia Hayes scored 22 points and Jordan had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Mississippi State (14-8, 5-5). Myah Taylor had nine points and seven assists. Only seven Bulldogs logged minutes due to injuries and leading scorer Rickea Jackson entering the transfer portal.

Thursday's victory marked the first time since Jan. 10, 2013 that the Gators have defeated the Bulldogs on the road and snapped an eight-game losing skid to Mississippi State, dating back to Feb. 15, 2015.

Another milestone: The win marks the first time in school history that UF has defeated Kentucky, Mississippi State, LSU, Tennessee and Georgia in the same season.