FSU women’s basketball has no problem with Virginia

Florida State (10-9, 4-5 ACC) defeated Virginia (3-15, 0-8 ACC) today in Tallahassee 62-37.

Game Recap

The game started out close. Virginia even took a three point lead after a triple from Amandine Toi. However, Florida State took the lead into the second quarter on the strength of four straight points from Sara Bejedi.

FSU built a lead in the second quarter with defense. Taylor Valladay hit a jumper for UVA with eight minutes left in the quarter and that was the last field goal the Cavs would score before halftime. The Seminoles took advantage of the Virginia scoring drought to go on a 12-3 run to end the half giving FSU a 28-16 lead going into halftime.

Toi hit a three ball to start the half for Virginia. However, Florida State took absolute control of the game after that hitting the Hoos with a 20-2 run to take a commanding 48-21 lead into the fourth quarter.

FSU cruised in the fourth quarter as UVA could never get closer than 20 points. Florida State walked away with the much needed 62-37 victory.

Post Game

Morgan Jones continued her strong play leading the Seminoles with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Makayla Timpson chipped in with nine points and five boards.

Virginia is struggling (to be kind) this year so there isn’t much to take from this game other than that the Noles avoided a terrible Q4 loss and no one got hurt.

The next three games will likely tell us a lot about FSU’s tournament chances. The Seminoles play at #3 NC State, get #20 Notre Dame at home, and then travel to #21 Duke. All of those games will be Q1 games for FSU. The Seminoles really need to take advantage of this opportunity as FSU is currently 0-5 in Q1 games (1-3 in Q2 games). In other words, Florida State currently has no wins that will really impress the committee. That needs to change and it can start to change this week.

Florida State has nine games remaining in the regular season. The Seminoles likely need to go 7-2 in those games to put themselves in place for a bid. The road won’t be easy but there is a path if the Noles can take it.

Next Game

As mentioned earlier, Florida State will travel to Raleigh to meet NC State (18-2, 9-0 ACC) on Thursday. The game will tip at 6pm and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.