FSU's Ta'Niya Latson honored for remarkable freshman season
Ta’Niya Latson made an impression from Day 1, dropping 28 points in her first college game. The opponents got tougher, and so did Latson, in the best season of all timeby an ACC freshman.
The 5-foot-8 guard averaged 21.3 points this season, the first time a freshman has led the league in scoring, and Latson also averaged 18.3 points in ACC games. She was the runaway winner of the league’s rookie of the year award. Latson was announced as the winner as well as a first-team All-ACC pick on Tuesday afternoon on the ACC Network.
“We had high expectations for Ta’Niya coming into the season,” FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “We knew she was going to be relied on to be an impact player, to be a scorer to be a dependable on-ball defender. But you never know what the freshmen, how they're going to acclimate, how quickly they're going to get control of all that stuff. And she did that so well. I’ve just been blown away at how well she's handled it all, how early that she figured it out and stepped into the role of being our leading scorer, being the conference’s leading scorer.”
Latson hit the 30-point mark in seven games, led the ACC with 18 games of 20 or more points and was incredibly consistent in reaching double figures in all but two games. She has scored 659 points and she would become just the second Seminole to surpass the 700-point mark.
From an efficiency standpoint, Latson shot 45.5 percent from the floor and was second in the ACC in free-throw percentage (85.9). She was also the Seminoles’ point guard, helping them lead the ACC in scoring per game (80.9).
“Both times we played Florida State, she had two of her best games of the year,” GT coach Nell Fortner said. “The other thing that happened with Ta’Niya it seems like (is) she's in the right situation at the right time. They needed a point guard and they needed one with her skill to be able to score the ball like that and it frees up a lot of other people because you have to focus on her and spend attention on her. And it's given other people an opportunity to break free and knock down some shots. She's just really good in that system.
“Brooke (Wyckoff) is doing a really good job putting the ball in her hand and letting her go. But it's not only for her, she opens up a lot opportunities for others. She's pretty special.”
FSU (23-8, 12-6 ACC) will play on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The ACC Tournament bracket can be viewed on our women's sports forum.
The Seminoles are viewed as a No. 6 seed by ESPN.com bracketologist Charlie Creme.
Timpson named most improved player
FSU sophomore forward Makayla Timpson was named the ACC's most improved player. Timpson had 13 double-doubles in the regular season, averaging 13.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. She also shot 59.6 percent from the floor and leads the team with 67 blocks. In 2021-22, Timpson averaged 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Timpson was also named to the All-ACC second team and All-ACC defensive team.
ACC award winners
Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech was named the Player of the Year. Kitley averaged 18.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
Ta'Niya Latson of FSU is the rookie of the year
Makayla Timpson of FSU is the most improved player
Saniya Rivers of NC State was named the Sixth Player of the Year.
Celeste Taylor Duke was named the Defensive Player of the Year.
Niele Ivey of Notre Dame was named the Coach of the Year.
All-ACC First Team
Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech
Olivia Miles, So., G, Notre Dame
Ta’Niya Latson, Fr., G, Florida State
Hailey Van Lith, Jr., G, Louisville
Georgia Amoore, Jr., G, Virginia Tech
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse
Deja Kelly, Jr., G, North Carolina
Celeste Taylor, Sr., G, Duke
Sonia Citron, So., G, Notre Dame
Alyssa Ustby, Jr., G, North Carolina
All-ACC Second Team
Makayla Timpson, So., F, Florida State
Jewel Spear, Jr., G, Wake Forest
Diamond Johnson, So., G, NC State
Haley Cavinder, Sr., G, Miami
Destiny Harden, Gr., F, Miami
Amari Robinson, Sr., F, Clemson
Camryn Taylor, Jr., G, Virginia
Maddy Westbeld, Jr., F, Notre Dame
Kennedy Todd-Williams, Jr., G, North Carolina
Taylor Soule, Gr., F, Virginia Tech
All-Defensive Team
Celeste Taylor, Sr., G, Duke
Mykasa Robinson, Gr., G, Louisville
Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech
Makayla Timpson, So., F, Florida State
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse
All-Freshman Team
Ta’Niya Latson, G, Florida State
Taina Mair, G, Boston College
Tonie Morgan, G, Georgia Tech
Ruby Whitehorn, G, Clemson
KK Bransford, G, Notre Dame
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