FSU women’s basketball comes up short at Georgia Tech

Florida State (5-3, 4-3 ACC) fell to Georgia Tech (8-3, 6-2 ACC) by a 66-58 score today in Atlanta.

Game Recap

Morgan Jones came out on fire. The junior guard scored FSU’s first seven points staking the Seminoles to a 7-2 early lead. Georgia Tech responded with a 7-2 run of their own to tie the game at nine. FSU then went on an 11-0 run that was capped by a triple from Sayawni Lassiter. The Jackets answered with two straight old fashioned three point plays. Valencia Myers finished the quarter with a layup and the Noles enjoyed a 22-15 lead going into the second quarter.

GT made a major move to start the second quarter. A layup from Lotta-Maj Lahtinen sparked them to a 9-0 run and a 24-22 lead. Sammie Puisis broke the run with a three ball. From there the teams traded baskets until Tech hit FSU with an 8-0 run with about 2 and a half minutes left in the quarter. Myers answered with a three point play for the Seminoles but FSU still trailed 36-33 at the half.

GT opened the third quarter with a 12-3 run to take a 48-36 lead. However, the Seminoles didn’t quit. A Morgan Jones layup sparked FSU to an 11-0 run to end the quarter. The Noles were only down 48-47 going into the last quarter.

Jones scored another layup to give the Noles a brief 49-48 lead to start the fourth. The teams then traded baskets until Tech made another move. Bianca Jackson scored a layup to bring FSU within three at 59-56. GT answered by scoring seven of the last nine points of the game to take a big 66-58 victory.

Post Game

Morgan Jones was the only Seminole in double figures with 14. Valencia Myers, Kourtney Weber and Sayawni Lassiter chipped in with nine points each.

Both teams only played seven players but FSU was coming off of a double overtime game while Georgia Tech won their last game by 29 points.

The Seminoles were outrebounded 48-26. This is the only statistic that mattered in this game. FSU shot fairly well, didn’t turn the ball over excessively and played reasonably good defense. However, when you are getting beat up on the boards to that extent it is tough to win.

It seems a bit ridiculous to say this about a team that has only played eight games in late January but Florida State needs a rest. It was pretty clear that the Noles were losing their legs late in this game. Florida State had to play zone to protect the short bench. This led to many of the 18 offensive rebounds from the Jackets. FSU only had six offensive boards.

This is the point were I would usually look ahead to the rest of the season. However, that seems a bit futile in the Age of Covid as we don’t know which games will be postponed. We can say that FSU remains in fairly good position in the ACC. The Noles are tied with Syracuse for fifth place in the league with only three losses. FSU still has a opportunity to finish in the top four of the ACC. A little rest might help them get there.

Next (Scheduled) Game

FSU will travel to Winston-Salem, NC to face Wake Forest (7-6, 4-5 ACC) on Thursday. The game will tip at 6pm and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Wake lost a heartbreaker to Louisville today 65-63.