Shaq’s daughter Me’arah O’Neal celebrates as Florida shocks Dan Hurley’s UConn in March Madness

Shaquille O'Neal's daughter Me'arah celebrated Florida's win over defending back-to-back champion UConn 77-75 in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Sunday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The 6-foot-4 freshman, who plays guard for the Gators' women's basketball team, expressed her joy on social media, posting an Instagram story of an alligator topping two Siberian Husky dogs with the caption:

"No. 1 Florida to the Sweet 16," the post read, as shared by NCAA Noobita on X.

Florida's (32-4) victory over the Dan Hurley-coached UConn (24-11) stretched its winning streak to eight games, ending the Huskies' bid to capture their third-straight national title. Todd Golden and his players showed grit and determination to overcome the defending champions, coming back from a six-point deficit to lead by eight with 40 seconds left after Alijah Martin scored on a dunk.

Florida outscored UConn 26-12 in an eight-minute-and-forty-four-second stretch that showed the Gators' desire to win the game and secure a spot in the Sweet 16.

Walter Clayton Jr led Florida's offense with 23 points, three rebounds and one assist. Alijah Martin added 18 points while Will Richard contributed 15. The victory sets up a clash with No. 4 Maryland (27-8), who beat No. 12 Colorado State (26-10) 72-71 on a Derik Queen buzzer-beater.

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Me'arah O'Neal ends first women's college basketball season with promising numbers

Me'arah O'Neal had a promising season with the Gators despite coming off the bench in most of her stints this year. She produced efficient numbers of 4.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game.

The daughter of 7-foot-1 center Shaquille O'Neal shot 41.3% and was a decent free-throw shooter with a 73.9% clip. She scored a career-high 19 points in their 30-point win over Arkansas on Feb. 3 and had her first-ever double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds) against Hofstra on Dec. 2, 2024.

The Gators didn't make the NCAA Tournament, but they earned an invite to the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. Florida (17-17) reached the WBIT quarterfinals after beating Northern Iowa (83-71) and UNLV (86-84).

They will face Texas Tech in the last eight after upsetting No. 1 seed Virginia Tech 69-59. O'Neal has averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg in Florida's two WBIT games.