Newcomer lifts Florida women's basketball to win over UCF with 42-point effort

Thanks to a star Penn State transfer, the Florida women's basketball era under first-year coach Tami Reiss is off to a promsing start.

The Florida Gators (2-0) picked up their second win of the season, knocking off UCF 95-65 behind 42 points from junior point guard Kiyomi McMiller.

The 5-foot-9 McMiller, from Silver Springs, Md., went 14 of 25 from the floor, 7 of 10 from 3-point range and 7 of 8 from the foul line to post the highest scoring output for a UF women's basketball player since Ronnie Williams scored 43 points against Vanderbilt in 2017.

"Just keep going until they stop me," McMillan said, when asked about her mentality throughout the game.

McMiller scored 31 points in her UF debut, an 83-60 win over Bucknell.

"It was really special," Reiss said. "When you shoot 7 for 10 (from 3) efficiency, mid-range is her bread and butter but when you're hitting threes there's really nothing a defense can do."

Florida jumped to a 48-26 halftime lead and maintained it by shooting 47.0% from the floor, 44% from 3-point range, UF outscored UCF 14-7 in second chance points and outrebounded the Knights 47-25, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds.'

"We had an opportunity to win big in front of a crowd which is even more important, because if they like what they see, they will come back," Reiss said. "So we had a lot to play for tonight."

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Newcomer lifts Florida women's basketball to win over UCF with 42-point effort