Florida State blows out Miami

#13 Florida State (15-2, 3-1 ACC) routs Miami (11-6, 1-3 ACC) 105-67 in Tallahassee.

Pre Game

Miami is similar to Florida State in that they both lost a lot of talent from last year’s NCAA Tournament teams. FSU had to replace seniors Leticia Romero, Brittany Brown, Ivey Slaughter and Kai James as well as sophomore Maria Conde. Miami had to replace seniors Adrienne Motley, Jessica Thomas, and Keyona Hayes. In addition starting guard Laura Cornelius suffered a season ending knee injury before the season even started. She will sit out the season as a redshirt. Those four players were UM’s top four scorers last season.

Miami is different from Florida State in that Miami is having to rebuild after losing all of that talent while FSU is reloading. As a program Florida State has reached elite or at worst borderline elite status. On the other hand, Miami reminds me of where FSU was four years ago. Like Miami this year FSU was coming off a second round NCAA Tournament loss four years ago. Like Miami this year FSU brought in a class featuring three top 100 players. Those players (Brown, Slaughter and James) formed the core of the teams that would vault FSU’s program into elite status. It remains to be seen if Miami will have similar success.

The Canes are led in scoring by freshman guard Mykea Gray at 12.9 points per game. However, senior forward Erykah Davenport has been UM’s most impactful player with 11.5 points and a team leading 8.9 rebounds a game.

Game Recap

The Noles jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before Miami battled back with a couple of buckets. FSU then went on an 18-4 run that was capped by a Nausia Woolfolk layup. The Seminoles had a 23-8 lead at this point. The teams would trade baskets for the rest of the quarter and FSU took a 29-15 lead into the second quarter.

FSU started the second quarter with a 10-3 run to take a 39-18 lead. The two teams would basically trade baskets until the Noles hit the Canes with a 11-0 run to end the half. Florida State took a 57-31 lead into halftime.

Miami would never get closer than 20 points for the rest of the game as FSU cruised to the final score of 105-67.

Post Game

FSU played extremely well in several areas in this game but the rebounding is what really stands out. The Noles dominated the Canes on the boards to the tune of 45-28. FSU also shot extremely well (55.7%, 46.2 3pt).

Woolfolk led the Noles with 23 points off the bench. Nicole Ekhomu and Imani Wright had 17 apiece as six Seminoles reached double digit scoring.

After the disappointing performance at Syracuse this game was just what the doctor ordered for FSU to get back on track.

Next Game

Florida State will welcome Virginia Tech (13-4, 2-2 ACC) to Tallahassee on Sunday at 2:30pm. The game will be televised on Fox Sports. Sagarin has FSU as 10 point favorites.