CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 19/20-ranked Florida State women’s basketball team will look to complete the season sweep of the “Sunshine State” when it faces Miami on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at BankUnited Center.
The Seminoles defeated the Hurricanes, 86-65, earlier this season in Tallahassee and also has wins against in-state rivals Florida (98-67) and Stetson (76-44).
The last time FSU swept the ‘Canes came during the 2008-09 season and the last time the Noles went undefeated in the state of Florida was the 2007-08 season.
The game will air live on CSS (Tallahassee Comcast channel 26).
“Both teams are different a couple weeks later,” FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board. They have some tweaks and we have some tweaks. We have to approach it like it’s the first time around. We have to put that last game behind us.
“It’s an extremely tough game for us. They are a really athletic team. We have got to be smart with the basketball. They force a lot of turnovers. We’ve got to patient to get the shots we want.”
Florida State had a week off after routing Clemson, 83-61, in its last contest on Feb. 3. Junior forward Natasha Howard led five Noles in double figures with 19 points against the Tigers and became the 28th Seminole to score 1,000 career points in the victory.
“While everybody else was pounding on their legs, we were able to rest,” Semrau said. “It was nice. We’ll go back to business this weekend.”
Howard has been especially dominant against the ‘Canes the past two seasons, averaging 20.3 points and 13.0 rebounds in the last three matchups. Earlier this season she had 20 points and nine boards in the FSU win. Last year, she had 19 points and 13 boards in a 67-60 loss in Coral Gables.
Florida State is 31-11 all-time against the Hurricanes and 11-6 in Miami.
Senior Alexa Deluzio is just two points away from becoming the No. 10 scorer in FSU history. The 5-11 guard from Orlando, Fla., has 1,393 points and has played in 120 straight games in her career.
The Seminoles are 18-4 this season and hold an 8-3 record in the ACC. Miami is 16-7 overall and 7-5 in the league.
