FSU women’s basketball takes care of business against Syracuse

Florida State (13-2, 3-0 ACC) defeated Syracuse (6-8, 0-3 ACC) by a 85-73 score this afternoon in Tallahassee.

Game Recap

The game started off close but Syracuse was able to maintain a small lead. However, midway through the quarter Ta’Niya Latson drove for a layup that sparked the Seminoles to a 12-0 run to take a 16-9 lead. A jumper from Dominique Camp broke the run. From there the two teams traded baskets and the Noles enjoyed a 21-15 lead going into the second quarter.

The Orange made a major move in the second quarter. SU hit the Noles with a 9-0 run that was aided by a pair of triples from Madeline Potts to take a 26-25 lead. Sydney Bowles broke the run with a jumper. However, the Orange finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 35-32 lead into the halftime break.

The two teams went back and forth in the third quarter until FSU took control with about three minutes left in the quarter. O’Mariah Gordon rolled in a jumper at the buzzer to allow Florida State to finish the quarter with an 11-4 run to take a more comfortable 60-52 lead into the final quarter.

FSU used an 11-2 run early in the quarter to get some breathing room with a 71-57 lead. However, the Orange had one last punch left to throw. Halfway through the quarter SU went on a 9-0 run that was sparked by a Sophie Burrows jumper. The Orange had cut the lead to 78-73. However, Syracuse would get no closer. Florida State would score the last seven points of the game to walk away with an important 85-73 victory.

Post Game

Ta’Niya Latson led Florida State with 25 points, seven assists and six steals although she did have nine turnovers. Makayla Timpson had another double-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. O’Mariah Gordon chipped in 16 points while Mariana Valenzuela had 15 points and six rebounds.

This game was close in the first half and the Orange went into halftime with a lead. They did so because they limited the live ball turnovers that plagued Virginia Tech in Thursday’s blowout win. Latson had a couple of steals in the third quarter when she went coast to coast for layups and that seemed to spark FSU. Up until that point Syracuse was able to keep the tempo slow and make it a half court game which allowed them to hang with Florida State.

Marianna Valenzuela only missed one shot all game. She was 3-3 from deep and 4-4 from the line. She missed all of last year with an ACL tear but she is showing signs that she is gaining confidence and getting her groove back. If she can maintain this level of play (or even increase it) that would be huge for FSU going forward. Valenzuela is a true stretch four. She is deadly from deep when open. She would allow FSU to play with a lineup that features four true three point shooters surrounding Makayla Timpson inside. That lineup would be tough for opposing defenses to handle.

The Seminoles continue to have trouble rebounding consistently. Syracuse only won the rebounding battle 44-43 but the Orange snagged several offensive rebounds early in the game which allowed them to stay close.

This game was important because Florida State really needs to avoid bad losses if they want to reach the goal of a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the last few years the Seminoles have suffered bad losses which has depressed their seed and led to them not being able to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Right now the Noles don’t have a Q1 win. That does need to change. However, I am confident that it will as the schedule toughens up later in the year and the Seminoles get more opportunities against better teams. Therefore, if the Noles can avoid bad losses they will be in a great position to snag one of those top four seeds to earn the right to host games in the tournament. Consistency is the key. They can’t lay an egg against a bad team. Today they avoided doing that and that was really important.

Florida State has a better team than Syracuse and that is why they won. It’s that simple. The Seminoles did not play their best game today but they managed to make the plays when they needed them against an inferior team and they managed to come back from a halftime deficit to avoid what would have been an awful loss to a sub .500 team. That is important because it is unrealistic to expect any team to play its best in every game. If a team can win without playing its best (or all that great) then that is really beneficial over a long season. This type of performance would not have beaten the top teams in the ACC but FSU wasn’t playing one of the top teams in the ACC today. The Noles did what they had to do to win and that is really all that matters.

Next Game

The west coast trip begins. Florida State will travel to California on Thursday to take on Stanford. The game will tip at 10:00pm and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.