While it was only the third meeting in program history between Florida and St. John’s, Gators fifth-year senior guard Leilani Correa knew all about the Red Storm.
Correa is originally from Manchester, N.J., and transferred to Florida in 2022 after playing three seasons at St. John’s. Her best statistical season came during the 2020-2021 season at St. John’s when she averaged 17.6 points in 22 games.
As she has done most of the season at Florida, Correa came off the bench Thursday with 7:40 left in the first quarter and tried to provide an offensive boost for the Gators. The Gators kept the game close in the first quarter, with St. John’s holding onto a five-point lead.
However, Florida struggled offensively as the game progressed, scoring just 11 points in the second quarter.
At the end of the first half, the Gators trailed 44-29. Still, St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella, familiar with Correa and with a recent scouting report on the Gators, knew the Red Storm could not let up defensively.
Tartamella is in his 12th season at St. John’s and coached Correa for three.
“Our goal was to force Florida to guard more than one play or one action,” said Tartamella. “The way we played tonight, the way we moved the ball, that is the capability that we have.”
The Gators looked to put the 15-point deficit behind them at the start of the second half. To try to spark the comeback, Coach Kelly Rae Finley inserted Correa into the starting lineup.
“As a coach, it’s your job to adapt and adjust,” Finley said. “We felt like, as a coaching staff, we needed another option for offensive scoring and wanted to see if we could get her going just a little bit.”
However, Florida continued to have offensive woes, only scoring nine points in the third and finished the quarter down, 61-38. Although Correa’s output wasn’t up to her traditional standards, her teammates were there to help the team recover.
Freshman Laila Reynolds was in the country’s top 20 recruiting class and played one of her better games. Despite Reynolds’ efforts, the Gators could not recover from their early hole and lost…
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