FSU halts FGCU run 65-47
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 7-seeded FGCU women’s basketball team’s record-setting season came to and end Monday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the Eagles fell to host and No. 2-seed Florida State 65-47.
For the Eagles (31-3) their 26-game winning streak falls by the wayside as Florida State (31-4) advances to the Sweet 16.
With a 7-for-10 start from the floor, Florida State raced to a 17-2 lead in the opening minutes of action. Although the Eagles trimmed the deficit to six points late in the first half, the Seminoles held the Eagles to an 0-for-12 start in the second half and extended the lead to a game-high 24 points.
“They blitzed us pretty good at the very beginning,” said Eagles coach Karl Smesko. “They knocked down a lot of shots and we turned it over the first few possessions. In the first four minutes, we had a lot of wasted possessions. We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, but I’m proud of how we came back for the rest of the half and how we put ourselves in a position to compete in the second half. Florida State is really good and, unfortunately, to beat a team as good as Florida State is on their home court you have to shoot the three at a high percentage, you are going to have to finish your layups at a high percentage and, unfortunately, when we got those types of shots, it wasn’t our day to make it. Florida State is just too good to leave that many points out on the floor.”
The Eagles shot just 31 percent on the night, with FSU converting at a clip of 46 percent. Both teams produced three-point shooting percentages below 30, with FGCU edging the home team 7-5 in three-point makes. The Seminoles outrebounded the Eagles 46-23, but FGCU forced 17 FSU turnovers with only 11 of its own.
Redshirt Freshman Taylor Gradinjan paced all players with 12 points on the night with two made shots from the perimeter. Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Whitney Knight added nine points with four rebounds and four blocks, while Kaneisha Atwater contributed eight points and two steals for FGCU.
Despite four players averaging double figures, the Seminoles saw just two score over 10 points and did not allow any to score more than 12. In all, 10 FSU players contributed to the point total, with 25 points scored off the bench.