CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Senior Alexa Deluzio matched her career-high with six three-pointers and scored 22 points, but the No. 24-ranked Florida State women’s basketball team dropped a road contest 72-60 at Virginia on Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Seminoles finish the regular season with a record of 21-8 and a fourth-place 11-7 mark in the ACC.
Florida State will receive a bye in next week’s ACC Tournament at the Greensboro (N.C) Coliseum and play in the quarterfinals on Friday at 11 a.m. against the winner of the Miami-Virginia Tech (No. 5 seed/No. 12 seed) first round matchup.
The Cavaliers (15-13 overall, 8-10 ACC) held a commanding 44-29 advantage on the glass and a 42-20 edge on points in the paint.
Virginia got a career-high 19 points from freshman guard Faith Randolph and a double-double from senior center Simone Egwu (17 points, 11 rebounds).
“I give credit to Virginia today,” Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. “They came out here fired up for Senior Day and they played a very tough, physical game. They really got after it on the boards. We will have to regroup now, put this behind us and get ready for the ACC Tournament next week.”
Deluzio finished 8-of-15 from the field and 6-of-11 from three en route to her 22 points. Senior guard Leonor Rodriguez added 14 points and seven assists, while junior forward Natasha Howard had 10 points to go along with a career-best five blocks and two steals.
Deluzio’s sixth three put Florida State up, 60-58, with just under eight minutes remaining in the game. She didn’t score the rest of the game, however, as Virginia played a box-and-1 defense on the sharpshooter and used a 7-0 run to take control of the game.
FSU led 55-53 with 5:42 left after Howard’s three-point play.
Virginia responded on its next possession with a putback layup by Sara Imovbioh to tie the game and went ahead at the 4:14 mark on a three by Randolph.
Egwu stretched the lead to 60-55 by hitting a layup with 3:36 left.
A jumper by Rodriguez cut the deficit to 3, 60-57, with two minutes left, but the Cavaliers went 10-of-10 from the free throw line down the stretch en route to the victory.
