Season done for ninth-seeded Noles with loss to Oregon State in NCAA first round
Photo courtesy Oregon State athletics
By Ian Bolger
Seminoles.com
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The ninth-seeded Florida State women’s basketball team (10-9, 9-7) suffered a season-ending 83-59 loss to No. 8 seed Oregon State (12-7, 7-6), last Sunday in the opening round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament at The University Events Center in San Marcos, Texas.
“It’s obviously disappointing to end the season this way,” FSU interim head coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “But Oregon State, give them all the credit in the world. They’re an excellent basketball team, (they have) some really good players, and we couldn’t figure out a way to stop them tonight on the defensive end or rebound. That really was the two keys. Our defensive rebounding just wasn’t where it needed to be against a team like this.
“But I don’t want this loss to take away from what we’ve accomplished as a team this season. I’m so proud of this group, from where we started to where we finished. It’s been a great journey, and we’ve got lots to look forward to as well with this group.”
Redshirt junior Bianca Jackson was the leading scorer for the Seminoles with 17 points, as well as three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. This was her 15th double-figure game of the season.
Redshirt senior Tiana England had one of her best games of the season, scoring a season-high 11 points on 5-10 shooting, along with a team-high four assists, three rebounds, and a steal. This was England’s first double figure game of the season.
Junior Kourtney Weber was the third Seminole to score in the double-digits with 11 points. She also recorded three rebounds and an assist.
Junior Morgan Jones led the team in rebounds with five and put together four points, two assists, and two blocks. Junior Valencia Myers had six points, two rebounds, and two assists before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
FSU was outshot by Oregon State, 55 percent to 35 percent. They did held their own on the free throw line at 88 percent shooting, but were outscored in the paint, 46-20, and were out-rebounded, 43-26, as well.
The Seminoles kept the pace early, with Weber putting up five points to take a four-point lead. Both teams exchanged leads throughout the first quarter, and they finished the period tied at 16 each.
Oregon State started to heat up once they controlled the lead and ripped off an 11-0 run in the middle of the second quarter. The Noles struggled to shoot from the field, making only four field goals in the period, and trailed at halftime by 14 points.
The Noles were still trying to find their rhythm coming out of the break, but the Beavers were able to push their lead up to 20 points with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. Jackson put together eight points for FSU in the last five minutes of the period and trailed by 16 points heading into the fourth quarter.
FSU was trying to put a late run together early in the fourth, but Oregon State kept building on their double-digit lead. Scoring runs of eight and five points for the Beavers brought the lead back over 20 points and it was eventually too much for the Seminoles to overcome.
