Florida State hadn’t played a top-20 matchup at the Donald L. Tucker Center in nearly four years. The game lived up to the wait and was one the Seminoles can savor.

Amaya Bonner made a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to tie it and Alexis Tucker grabbed the defensive rebound with 24 seconds, was fouled and made a free-throw attempt to secure No. 18 Florida State’s 92-91 win over No. 11 Tennessee on Thursday night in front of 2,898 fans.

"I’m just so proud of the team," FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said. "That was an amazing game. This is why we play the game for moments like this, for challenges like this. For our fans and for women’s college basketball, it was a fantastic night."

Rickea Jackson scored 31 points — on 13 of 25 shooting — and pulled down 17 rebounds. But the Tennessee star missed a jumper with three seconds left and, despite a Tennessee offensive rebound, the horn sounded and FSU had won.

FSU (2-0) scored 54 points in the first half but cooled off dramatically in the third quarter, one where the Seminoles led by as many as 12 points with 7:52 left only to see Tennessee take a 74-68 lead with 51 seconds remaining in the period.

O’Mariah Gordon quickness was a challenge for Tennessee early, and she finished with 22 points (one off a career high) on 7 of 10 shooting. She also had five assists in 28 minutes.

Ta’Niya Latson returned after missing the opener due to a hamstring injury. Latson scored 20 points on 9 of 24 shooting in 30 minutes.

Bonner was FSU’s biggest contributor in the second half, scoring 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting (including 3 of 4 from deep).

Tucker, a graduate transfer, shores up two of FSU’s deficiencies from last season: Rebounding and 3-point shooting. Tucker had 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting while adding seven rebounds.

FSU shot 34 of 73 (46.6 percent) from the floor and 13 of 22 (59.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Tennessee won the edge on the boards by a wide margin, 47-28.

Jewell Spear, who had been a thorn in FSU’s side while at Wake Forest, scored 18 points and added five rebounds for Tennessee. The Volunteers (1-1) shot 36 of 71 (50.7 percent) and 10 of 20 (50 percent) from 3-point range.

A good number of FSU football players and mens’ basketball players were in attendance, cheering on the Seminoles. Also in the crowd on the sideline were longtime coach Sue Semrau and guard Brittany Brown (2013-17).

The Seminoles play at Florida on Nov. 17 on SEC Network+ at 4 p.m.

They return home to play South Alabama on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. on ACCNX

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