GREENSBORO, N.C. — No. 9 seed Florida State Women’s Basketball ended its stay at the ACC Tournament on Friday afternoon after falling to No. 1 seed NC State, 84-54, in the conference quarterfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Friday’s game marked FSU’s 10th consecutive appearance in the ACC Quarterfinals.
The Wolfpack (27-3, 17-1) shot 52 percent in the contest, just the third opponent in 20 games against conference foes that has shot north of 50 percent against the Seminoles (17-13, 10-8). Elissa Cunane guided NC State with 15 points and six rebounds.
FSU junior guard Sara Bejedi posted a career-best 21 points in 21 minutes on 8-of-11 shooting, often creating 1-on-1 space and taking advantage of her quickness to the rim. Bejedi finishes the tournament on a strong two-game run after being a huge factor against Boston College on Thursday when she drew eight fouls and scored eight points with three assists.
NC State was able to get 42 points inside and out-rebounded the Seminoles 38-28. FSU’s point guard play accounted for 30 of its 54 points as freshman O’Mariah Gordon added nine points and two assists.
The Seminoles continued their season-long trend of out-scoring opponents off the bench, owning a slight edge over the Wolfpack 34-32. Winning the third quarter to trim the Seminoles’ 13-point halftime deficit was the goal, but NC State came out firing once again and out-scored FSU 24-14 in the third.
FSU managed to shoot 4-of-9 from the outside, and with its two games combined in Greensboro, went 13-of-27 from beyond the arc after burying a season-high nine in Thursday’s crucial win over Boston College. Despite the loss on Friday, FSU heads into NCAA Selection Sunday winners of seven of its last 10 games in what is arguably the toughest conference in the country.
