BLACKSBURG, Va. – Florida State (17-3, 5-2) maintained its perfect road record on Sunday with a gutsy 56-54 victory over Virginia Tech (13-8, 0-8) at Cassell Coliseum. The Seminoles’ were led by junior guard Nausia Woolfolk in her career-best performance.
Woolfolk led the Seminoles with a career-high 27 points, accounting for nearly half of Florida State’s offensive production. On the defensive side, the junior registered a career-high six steals.
“From my previous years, I’ve been more offensive,” Woolfolk said. “When I got here [Florida State], Coach Sue said so many things about defense and now I really trust her word that defense makes your offense. All of the steals I got brought up my momentum to lead me towards my offense. Once I got the layups and the steals, it boosted my adrenaline to hit shots and knock them down and just take over and that’s what it did.”
On a day with apparent offensive struggles, the Seminole defense forced 23 turnovers, tying a season high dating back to Nov. 6 against Troy. The defense in turn helped created offense for Florida State, who registered 22 points off turnovers on the day to Virginia Tech’s six. FSU also had a season-high 12 steals.
The Hokies held a 28-21 lead at halftime, but the Seminoles battled back, opening the second half on an 11-4 run that pulled them even. Virginia Tech answered with an 11-0 run that looked to be the dagger for Florida State.
A 14-4 run that began with 4:33 remaining in the game changed the narrative, led by Woolfolk and fellow junior guard Nicki Ekhomu who combined to score 13 of the Seminoles’ final 14 points. Two free throws by Ekhomu pulled the Seminoles within one with 0:40 seconds remaining, which came after Virginia Tech was called for an unsportsmanlike foul.
Woolfolk followed suit, converting two foul shots of her own which gave the Seminoles their first lead of the afternoon with 0:22 remaining following a drive to the basket. One last effort by the Florida State defense helped to secure the comeback win for the Seminoles and maintain their perfect road record.
Sunday’s win marked Florida State’s fourth conference win to be decided by four points or less, further showcasing character of this young Seminole group that has been put on display for much of the season.
“I think it goes back to the grit that they have when it comes to practice and really locking in on that,” Florida State Head Coach Sue Semrau said. “This is a team that communicates. They were communicating making sure everything was clear, every assignment all the way out to when the ball was handed. It was really big that communication today.”
Ekhomu finished with 16 points on the day and added three steals on the defensive end. Sophomore guard Savannah Wilkinson led Florida State with nine rebounds, tying her career-high.
Florida State returns home to the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. for a rivalry matchup against the Miami Hurricanes. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
