Zipporah Broughton sparks Florida women's basketball past No. 11 Georgia 54-51

ATHENS, Ga. — Zipporah Broughton scored the final four points and Florida scored the final eight to knock off No. 14 Georgia 54-51 on Sunday.

Malury Bates scored on a hook shot in the paint to give Georgia a 51-46 lead with 4:30 remaining in the game. Jordyn Merritt answered with a jumper to get Florida (17-6, 7-3 Southeastern Conference), within three at the 3:35 mark. Kiara Smith sank two free throws after she stole the ball and was fouled to cut the deficit to one with 2:16 left.

Kiara Smith scored 10 points

Que Morrison missed a 3-pointer for the Bulldogs (17-5, 6-4) and Broughton hit a go-ahead jumper and was fouled with 1:32 remaining. Broughton missed the free throw, but a miss by Georgia and a shot-clock violation by Florida left 30 seconds for Bulldogs. But Sarah Ashlee Barker missed a 3 with 5 seconds to go and Broughton made a layup to put an exclamation point on the Gators' second straight victory over a ranked team.

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Last time out Florida handed No. 7 Tennessee its worst defeat by an unranked team since the AP poll debuted in 1976. Smith had 25 points and Florida beat the Lady Vols 84-59 — their largest margin of victory in just their fifth win all-time against Tennessee. 

Broughton and Merritt led Florida with 11 points apiece. Smith and Nina Rickards both scored 10. Merritt and Rickards both had nine rebounds. The Gators, who snapped a nine-game losing streak to Georgia, dominated the boards 46-35 with 11 offensive rebounds, but it led to just a 4-3 advantage in second-chance points.

Bates topped Georgia with 13 points. Morrison scored 12 on 5-of-18 shooting, 1 of 7 from 3-point range.

Florida shot just 33% overall and made only 3 of 13 from beyond the arc, but the Gators sank 15 of 17 free throws. Georgia shot 34%, hit 1 of 10 from distance and made 6 of 7 foul shots. 

It was Florida's sixth win in 38 tries on the Bulldogs' home court. The Gators have won seven of their past eight games, while Georgia lost for the second time in its last seven.

Florida 54, No. 14 Georgia 51

FLORIDA (17-6) 

Dut 0-3 1-2 1, Merritt 5-11 0-0 11, Broughton 5-8 0-1 11, Rickards 3-9 4-4 10, Smith 3-12 4-4 10, de Oliveira 2-4 0-0 5, Toonders 0-2 0-0 0, Rimdal 0-3 4-4 4, Warren 0-1 0-0 0, Tatyana Wyche 0-1 0-0 0, Taliyah Wyche 0-1 2-2 2, Totals 18-55 15-17 54

GEORGIA (17-5) 

Isaacs 0-0 0-0 0, Staiti 2-6 0-0 4, Barker 2-11 0-0 4, Coombs 3-10 2-2 8, Morrison 5-18 1-2 12, Bates 6-10 1-1 13, Nicholson 3-6 0-0 6, Chapman 0-1 0-0 0, Hollingshead 0-0 0-0 0, Richardson 1-2 2-2 4, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-64 6-7 51

Florida    9    17    12    16    —    54

Georgia    8    14    20    9    —    51

3-Point Goals_Florida 3-13 (Merritt 1-4, Broughton 1-2, Smith 0-1, de Oliveira 1-3, Rimdal 0-2, Warren 0-1), Georgia 1-10 (Barker 0-3, Morrison 1-7). Assists_Florida 9 (Broughton 3), Georgia 12 (Morrison 5). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Florida 46 (Merritt 9, Rickards 9), Georgia 35 (Staiti 8). Total Fouls_Florida 14, Georgia 12. Technical Fouls_None. A_3,653.