Seminoles outlast Clemson in overtime to clinch No. 6 seed at ACC Tournament
Photo by FSU athletics
By Stephen Stone
Seminoles.com
Senior Sara Bejedi came up huge for the Florida State women’s basketball team, scoring seven points in overtime as the Seminoles outlasted Clemson 82-79 in front of a raucous crowd at the Tucker Center.
FSU improved to 21-9 overall and secured the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament with its 12-6 conference record. The Seminoles will take on either No. 11 seed Virginia or No. 14 seed Wake Forest in the Second Round on Thursday. The game will be shown on the ACC Network, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
In Sunday’s game, Bejedi led Florida State with 19 points.
Clemson’s Nya Valentine hit a corner 3-pointer with 2:32 left in the fourth to put the Tigers (12-18, 5-13) ahead convincingly at 71-63. FSU turned up its defense and ended regulation on an 8-0 run, headlined by Bejedi’s 3-pointer from the wing that tied the game at 71-71 with 52 seconds left.
With Ta’Niya Latson missing overtime due to fouling out, Bejedi took over for the Seminoles. She hit another 3-pointer to begin the extra period and added to the lead with a free throw to make it 75-71 with 2:49 left.
Clemson refused to back down, and after FSU’s Makayla Timpson basket inside gave the Noles a 79-77 lead with six seconds left, the Tigers responded with a quick bucket from the front court to tie the game once again at 79-79 with 4.4 seconds remaining.
FSU eventually missed a 3-point field goal attempt from the right corner, but the Tigers were called for a technical foul after calling an immediate timeout on the rebound that they didn’t have. Bejedi calmly sank one of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to put the game away.
“I’m happy for this win,” FSU head Coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “I’m proud of this team for their resiliency. I’m so excited that this was senior day, and what a way to go out with Sara’s last game at the Tuck and what she was able to do and the big plays she made at the end of the game. Alexis Tucker too gave us phenomenal minutes. I’m proud of our team. This is what March is probably going to feel like.”
Bejedi was one of four FSU players in double figures, along with Timpson (18), Latson (17) and O’Mariah Gordon (16).
The win clinches a second consecutive conference season of finishing with 12 ACC wins, the first time it has gone consecutive years with 12 or more conference victories since the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
FSU once again took care of the basketball, committing just nine turnovers and forcing 16 by the Tigers. FSU limited Clemson to just 10 fourth-quarter points after allowing 30 in the third quarter.
Dayshanette Harris led all scorers with 22 points for Clemson.
