TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) — The No. 25 women’s basketball team (6-2) extended their home winning streak to 5-0 with an 83-32 victory over Charleston Southern on Sunday afternoon at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
“I was really pleased with the fact that we got a lot of players an opportunity to get some experience, and everybody had a chance to score, but we still maintained solid defensive principles,” said Head Coach Sue Semrau about her team’s largest margin of victory this season.
The team set a new season high of 25 assists on 31 baskets to increase their average to 16.9 assists per game.
Valencia Myers made her 88th start of her career on Sunday, the most among active FSU players and 16th all-time for the Noles. She recorded a perfect scoring percentage in the first quarter and finished the game with 15 points and four rebounds.
Senior Morgan Jones recorded double figures in scoring for the seventh consecutive game this season 16 points against the Buccaneers.
The Seminoles added two more players to the double-figure scoring list in home games this season through Myers and River Baldwin with 13 points.
“Valencia and River did a great job of doing their work in order to receive the ball in positive places to score,” said Semrau.
Rebounding continued to be a strength for the Seminoles as the team has won the rebound battle in each of its eight games this season including 56 to 25 margin against the Buccaneers. Mariana Valenzuela tied her career-high of nine rebounds to lead the team against Charleston Southern.
“We’re at our best when our defense is at its top tier. We’re a great transition team. If we can get out and transition on offense, that’s great and comes from great defense,” said freshman guard O’Mariah Gordon.
The first quarter started strong with six straight free throws from Jones and solid team rebounding to earn nine second-chance points. The Seminoles drained three three-pointers to extend the lead to 25-11 in the first quarter.
The Garnet and Gold finished the second quarter with an 8-0 scoring run to take a 44-16 lead into halftime. Florida State scored 12 of its 19 points in the second quarter in the paint including nine off rebounds.
After a quiet start to the third quarter, the bench contributed six points to spark the offense and take a 61-22 lead into the final quarter.
Nine different Seminoles scored in the fourth quarter to close out the win 83-32. Valenzuela led the team in scoring in the quarter with all five of her points coming in the final minutes of the game.
The Seminoles travel to face Florida on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. and will return home on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. against Houston.
