TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sophomore forward Ivey Slaughter’s all-out hustle proved to be the difference on Monday night as she led the ninth-ranked Florida State Women’s Basketball team to a 62-52 win over No. 25 Syracuse at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
The Macon, Ga., native established her career high in points (22) on her second made free throw with 1:19 left that virtually clinched the game for the Seminoles (21-2, 8-1). Slaughter added seven rebounds and gave FSU a huge lift from the free-throw line, making all six of her attempts.
Florida State dominated the glass with 51 total rebounds, its fourth time grabbing 50 or more boards this season. FSU totaled 20 on the offensive end and out-rebounded the Orange (15-7, 5-4) 51-37 on the boards, keeping its streak alive of out-rebounding each opponent this season.
“We talked about how we would need to be really good on the defensive end and rebounding,” FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. “We held them to 19 percent (shooting) in the first half and 31 (percent) in the second half. That was the biggest difference. We still weren’t pleased with our rebounding and we did outrebound them by a good bit. We thought that the inside game would be where we needed to go to attack and score. Ivey [Slaughter] proved that to be true.”
FSU’s win was its third AP Top 25 victory of the season, also defeating No. 13 Duke (74-58) and No. 4 Louisville (68-63).
*FSU Sports Information
