3/12/2023 basketball Edit

FSU women earn 7th seed, will open vs. Georgia in NCAA Tournament

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

The Florida State women’s basketball team knew it was in the NCAA Tournament for a 10th straight season. But the bracket reveal had the Seminoles as the final game announced in Sunday night's show.

FSU (23-9, 12-6 ACC) earned the No. 7 seed and will face No. 10 seed Georgia (21-11) in Iowa City on Friday night. If the Seminoles win their opener, they could face No. 2 seed and regional host Iowa on Sunday.

"Dog fight — no pun intended on that," said transfer guard Jazmine Massengill, who faced Georgia in her previous stops at Tennessee and Kentucky. "That's just how it is. They're very scrappy, very aggressive. They try to change the whole dynamic of the game."

Coach Brooke Wyckoff, assistant coaches, players and support staff gathered with a few hundred fans at Glory Days on Capital Circle NE.

"The Selection Show is such a great moment," Wyckoff said. "I love this. I know the players love it. They get into it. These are the types of things that you come to Florida State to do, play deep into March, play in the NCAA Tournament."

The wait was worth it for the Seminoles, who are in the NCAA Tournament for a 10th straight time. FSU has had a track record of consistency along the lines of Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee and UConn.

Selected ninth in the ACC predicted order of finish, Florida State tied for fourth in the ACC regular season and holds a 23-9 overall record. FSU’s 12-6 mark in conference play is its best record since the 2017-18 season.

While FSU had a first-round exit at the ACC Tournament on March 2, the Seminoles have used the practice time to focus on fundamentals while awaiting their opponent.

"It was nice to go back to some of our defensive principles, making sure that we’re doing basic Day 1 things," Wyckoff said. "We get so caught up in preparing for what the opponent’s going to do. This gives you a chance to do the basics: protect the paint, box out, all of those types of things. Just continue to work on our offensive execution, our spacing, get different people at different spots. It was a really good opportunity to get reps at that."