TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (SEMINOLES.COM) — Five double-figure scorers helped Florida State Women’s Basketball continue its running ways once again, earning a 93-62 win over Clemson on Thursday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
“Just once again, really proud of our team,” FSU Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “Just the focus they came out with to start the game, and played all four quarters against a tough Clemson team that came in with a lot of confidence and a lot of weapons on both ends of the floor. I’m really proud of our group effort, and we had a lot of great individual performances as well. We have different people stepping up every game. I’m really excited to be 4-0 in the ACC.”
The Seminoles (15-2, 4-0) are off to their first 4-0 start to ACC play since beginning 6-0 in the 2008-09 season. Freshman guard Ta’Niya Latson sizzled once again, dropping 31 points, going 15-of-15 from the free throw line, grabbing eight rebounds and adding five assists.
Latson re-set her own school record by going 15-of-15 from the line, the best single-game free throw performance in school history. She previously set the record going 13-for-13 vs. Georgia Tech last game.
Latson became the first Seminole since Natasha Howard to record five 30-point games in a season, with Howard reaching the feat in 2013-14. With one more 30-point game, Latson will already hold the single-season school record for most 30-point performances in a season, currently being tied with Howard (2013-14) and FSU all-time scoring leader Sue Galkantas (five in 1980-81).
“I feel like we had to come out attacking the basket and getting the right shots,” Latson said. “Our mentality is to attack even if the defense is pressuring, and take care of the ball, play good defense and get stops.”
Latson’s 15-point third quarter helped to cool down a Clemson squad that went 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the third and got to near single digits in deficit.
Graduate guard Jazmine Massengill had her second double-figure scoring game of the season with 10 points and added nine assists in an efficient game. Massengill’s 9/1 assist-to-turnover performance was a microcosm of FSU’s efficient offensive day, where it totaled 20 assists as a team to just nine turnovers.
Graduate forward Valencia Myers came off the bench to record 12 points and seven rebounds in nearly 25 minutes. Redshirt senior Erin Howard added 10 points, four rebounds and two assists, while sophomore Mariana Valenzuela was another of FSU’s five double-figure scorers with 11 points.
Clemson’s pressure defense allowed FSU to get out in transition again, as the Seminoles generated 22 fast break points while Clemson had six. FSU also had 22 points off turnovers to Clemson’s eight.
FSU held the Tigers to just 31.6 percent shooting from the floor, while the Seminoles shot 42.9 percent (30-of-70).
Clemson held strong in the third quarter and cut FSU’s lead to 56-45, but Latson scored FSU’s final 11 points of the quarter as the Seminoles out-scored the Tigers, 11-5, in a key stretch of play.
Florida State takes on a Boston College team that earned a 79-71 road win at No. 10 NC State on Thursday night. FSU faces the Golden Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Sunday at Noon on ACC Network.
