GREENSBORO, N.C. – After finishing fourth in the conference and earning a bye, the No. 23-ranked Florida State women’s basketball team will open the 2013 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament at 11 a.m. on Friday at the Greensboro Coliseum.
FSU will face the winner of Thursday’s first round matchup between No. 5 seed Miami and No. 12 seed Virginia Tech.
The game will air live on RSN, which includes FS Carolinas, FS South, FS Florida, Sun Sports, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and NESN. ESPN3 will also stream the game and 1270 AM WNLS and Seminoles.com will carry the radio broadcast.
A victory over the Hurricanes or the Hokies will secure the Seminoles their third ever appearance in the ACC Tournament semifinals and first since 2009.
“Our style is one where we tend to share the basketball really well,” Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. “I think that's noted with our statistics of having five kids in double figures. I think that's something that we really strive for. We are excited about the opportunity to step in with a lot of different weapons.”
Last season Florida State fell to NC State, 74-71, in the first round despite 26 points from Alexa Deluzio.
Deluzio, a senior guard, closed out the regular season strong on Sunday in Virginia, scoring 22 points and matching a career-best with six three-pointers – one off of the FSU record. The Cavaliers held the Orlando, Fla., sharpshooter scoreless for the final eight minutes to secure an upset.
Deluzio joined classmate and fellow guard Leonor Rodriguez on the Blue Ribbon Panel and Head Coaches All-ACC First Teams announced on Monday. Junior forward Natasha Howard also captured All-ACC First Team honors from the coaches, giving Florida State a league-high and a school-record three first-team all-conference award winners.
Additionally, senior forward Chasity Clayton was named the ACC’s Sixth Player of the Year.
After finishing 14-17 overall and 6-10 in the ACC a year ago, the Seminoles rebounded with a 21-8 overall mark and an 11-7 record in league play thanks not only to their three first-teamers an star reserve, but also because of the contributions of senior post Chelsea Davis and the point guard tandem of senior Morgan Toles and junior Cheetah Delgado.
Davis averages 13.3 points per game and ranks fifth in the ACC in blocks. Toles and Delgado combine to averaged nearly 10 assists per game and are the engines behind Florida State’s league-leading scoring offense (76.8 points per game).
“I think the reason for that is we get an opportunity, we distribute really well with the opportunity to play two different point guards,” Semrau said. “Those two are players that certainly could score in double figures. But they're very selfless and have put other players in a position to do that.”
Florida State is the only team in the nation with five players averaging double figures in scoring as Rodriguez (15.8 ppg), Deluzio (14.0), Howard (13.3), Davis (13.0) and Clayton (10.2) have pushed FSU’s offense above 80 points 12 times this season.
A win on Friday will propel the Seminoles into Saturday’s semifinal at 1 p.m. on RSN. Sunday’s Tournament Championship game will air at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.
