TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com — The Florida State women’s basketball team (6-4) lost a close battle to Houston (6-5), 78-68, at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Thursday night.
The Seminoles went back and forth with the Cougars throughout Thursday’s entertaining affair, but Houston’s 13 3-point field goals proved to be too much as it pulled away late.
“We had a lot of people who offensively were helping us, but hurting us on the defensive end,” FSU Head Coach Sue Semrau said. “It was a really tough decision to figure out how do we stay solid but also get some production on the offensive end. We thought the zone would slow them down and we got out of that pretty quick. They had a lot of success.”
The Seminoles had three players record points in the double digits with Morgan Jones and O’Mariah Gordon tied at 16. KK Timpson followed behind with 12 points. Jones has scored in double figures in the last nine consecutive games.
Gordon also led the team in assists with six on the night.
The Garnet and Gold continued their rebounding dominance over their opponents this season with 38 rebounds to Houston’s 34. The Seminoles’ bench provided depth by outscoring Houston’s bench 33-26.
The first quarter started with River Baldwin opening the scoring with two baskets in the paint and four rebounds. Sammie Puisis recorded her 96th career three-pointer, making her four points shy of becoming the 16th Seminole with 100 threes made.
However, Houston held a 22-18 first quarter lead after guard Laila Blair recorded 15 of her 20 points in the first frame, hitting five 3-point field goals to get the Cougars going.
Going into the second half, Sara Bejedi led the Seminoles with eight points. Tonight’s contest was Bejedi’s third game of the season with multiple three-pointers.
The Seminoles’ largest lead of the game came in the third quarter by a margin of 47-42 credited to 11 unanswered points from the Noles. But it continued to be a game of swings as Houston responded with a 6-0 run of its own, never letting FSU break away with a lead.
The final quarter did not prove to be fruitful for the Seminoles, giving Houston their biggest lead of the game.
The Seminoles start conference play on Sunday, Dec. 19, against Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The game will air on the ACC Network.
