TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Coach Sue Semrau has insisted all season that this team is special and unlike any in her 18-year tenure. Now the Noles have the record to back it up winning their 30th game this season in a first round NCAA Tournament matchup against Alabama state 91-49. It's the first 30-win season in program history.
That depth carried FSU to its best regular season in school history and, on Saturday, into the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Shakayla Thomas scored a game-high 17 points, Leticia Romero flirted with a triple-double (14 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds) and two other Seminoles (30-4) reached double figures as second-seeded FSU cruised to a 91-49 victory over No. 15-seed Alabama State here at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
FSU hosts seventh-seeded and 20th-ranked Florida Gulf Coast, a 75-67 winner over Oklahoma State on Saturday, Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
“I just want to point out what I thought was the difference in the game, which was our defensive pressure,” said FSU coach Sue Semrau, whose team advanced to the Round of 32 in its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
“We had a lot of athletes who played their tails off this afternoon and I’m really, really proud of that.”
That defensive pressure, Semrau said, is the result of an FSU rotation that on Saturday went 12 players deep.
Nine Seminoles played at least 12 minutes against the Hornets (17-15), and no one was on the court more than 29 minutes.
It helped FSU to force a season-high 18 steals as part of 32 Alabama State turnovers. The Seminoles parlayed those turnovers into 38 points.
I love to coach teams like this,” Semrau said. “When I’m rotating kids in and out, it’s about defense. …It’s that type of defensive pressure that, if you’re going to go all out, you’re going to get winded.
“And we’re able to do that because of the depth we have.”
FSU’s defense helped the Seminoles turn what was a surprisingly close game midway through the first half into a lopsided rout.
With FSU holding a 19-16 advantage at the 9:02 mark, the Seminoles launched an 18-3 run that was sparked by steals from Ivey Slaughter, Emiah Bingley and Maegan Conwright, and a defense that forced ASU to miss 11 of its last 12 first-half shots.
The Seminoles led 37-19 at the break and the Hornets never threatened the rest of the way.
“We knew going into the game they were bigger than us, faster,” ASU coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. “I thought our girls fought through the game and (FSU) just wore us down.”
Added Conwright, “They put up a real good fight in the beginning. It took us a while to get a feel for how they were playing and what we need to do to execute.”
A crowd of 5,536 watched as the Seminoles reached the 30-win mark for the first time in school history. It was FSU’s fourth-largest crowd at the Tucker Center. The Tallahassee faithful witness FSU’s largest NCAA postseason victory in program history.
FSU shot 52.5 percent (31 of 59) from the field and enjoyed a 37-31 rebounding advantage.
Conwright, a fifth-year senior guard, scored 16 points while leading FSU with two 3-pointers and five steals. And Slaughter, a sophomore forward, added 13 points.
“We’ve never had a crowd that big before,” Conwright said. “You call that the ‘sixth man. … It’s our job to give them a show so then they’ll come back.”
FSU’s next show comes on Monday, when it faces an FGCU team that is 30-2 on the season and riding a 26-game winning streak.
The Eagles haven’t lost since a double-overtime setback at Ohio State on Nov. 29.
“Florida Gulf Coast does an amazing job. Karl [Smesko] is one of the best coaches that I have seen. … He takes and gets the most out of those kids. They will make you look foolish if you’re not ready.”
***FSU Athletics
