The No. 24 Florida State women’s basketball team closed out their regular season schedule on Sunday when they played their final game in front of the home fans at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.
The Seminoles welcomed No. 16 Duke for a prime time ACC matchup. The game was also a special night for a few FSU players, as it was senior night for forwards Makayla Timpson, Malea Williams, Mariana Valenzuela and guard O’Mariah Gordon.
The Seminoles fought hard with the Blue Devils, but the fourth quarter proved to be too much as Florida State came up a little bit short 71-57.
“Just really proud of our seniors,” FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “Their legacy won’t be remembered by a loss tonight, it’ll be remembered by so many other things and I’m just so grateful for them and all that they’ve given to this program, and how they set the bar for achieving excellence but doing so in the right way as amazing people.”
The game started out with a ton of energy and effort from both teams. It felt like an ACC tournament game at times, with both teams diving for loose balls and playing with relentless effort. When the game settled in, Duke went on a 9-0 run to force an FSU timeout with 3:36 left in the 1st quarter.
Duke continued to fight for loose balls and made life difficult for any Florida State player trying to grab a rebound. The Blue Devils' defense was sound all night and clearly had a game plan that they executed all night.
“Florida State is a wonderful team, a lot of weapons,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “It took a really good defensive performance by us to be able to hold that explosive offense down to 57 points.”
After the much-needed timeout, the Seminoles were able to claw their way back by cutting the lead to six going into the second quarter.
The game continued to be physical between both teams. With 5:43 left before halftime, junior guard Ta’Niya Latson was poked in the eye and had to come out of the game. Upon review, Duke guard Oluchi Okananwa was assessed a technical foul, sending Gordon to the free-throw line. Gordon uncharacteristically missed both free throws but was able to get a layup when FSU got their technical foul possession. As Duke was bringing the ball up the floor after Gordon's layup, Gordon stole the ball and found junior guard Amaya Bonner for an easy basket.
In the blink of an eye, the ’Noles had cut the lead to two and their run continued when Williams hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to give FSU a 24-23 lead with four minutes and 22 seconds left until halftime. The Tucker Center crowd erupted, and momentum had clearly shifted to Florida State.
Duke is No. 16 for a reason, and the Blue Devils answered back by retaking the lead multiple times as the half was winding down. This was a truly back-and-forth affair all night and despite a surge in momentum from the Seminoles, they were still down 32-31 at halftime to the Blue Devils.
The third quarter was much of the same for both teams, but one player for the Blue Devils came alive — and FSU had no answer.
Duke freshman forward Toby Fournier came into the game averaging 14.1 points per game, and it showed. All night, the talented forward used her post moves against Timpson that she simply could not defend.
Fournier scored a career-high 28 points against the Seminoles and it was in impressive fashion given her age. When the fourth quarter began, the Seminoles were down 49-47 but the game never felt like it was slipping away. This game looked destined to come down to the last minute.
What happened in the fourth quarter was a different story.
The game started to get away from Florida State when Duke when on a 12-2 run to go up 61-51 with 5:39 left in the game. For the rest of the game, Duke did whatever they wanted on offense. Easy layups caused by defensive breakdowns, 3-pointers and post scores were some of the many things the Blue Devils did well down the stretch of the game and that is what good teams do.
The Seminoles fought hard, but Duke was simply the better team.
FSU will now pivot their way into the ACC tournament, with the NCAA tournament on the horizon. The team they will face is to-be determined as the Seminoles finished as the No. 4 team in the conference and will have a first-round bye.
The Seminoles earned a double bye and will play Friday at 11 a.m. The quarterfinal game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
“It’s win or go home at this point with the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament,” Wyckoff said. “So our sense of urgency and how we prepare, the little details, game plan, having strong starts, that’s all going to be critical, even more so than the regular season.”
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