SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Seminoles.com) – The Florida State Women’s Basketball team endured a hard-fought defeat at No. 4/4 Notre Dame on Friday evening, falling 74-68 in front of 9,149 fans at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
The Seminoles (13-2, 0-1) led for 25:59 of the game, and gave the Fighting Irish (13-1, 1-0) their first single-digit home win in conference play since joining the ACC in the 2013-14 season. The Irish stretched its regular-season win streak vs. ACC teams to 17 since joining the conference, but its victory was one of its toughest to come by.
“I’m very proud of the way we fought tonight,” FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. “We led the game for 26 minutes, but credit Notre Dame for how they played. I’m very proud of how many of our players performed.”
Freshman Shakayla Thomas led FSU with 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting, being able to create space inside. Sophomore guard Leticia Romero added 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land, while redshirt junior Morgan Jones had 14 points.
FSU out-rebounded Notre Dame, 38-30, and grabbed 16 offensive boards. The Noles shot 40 percent (26-of-65) from the field, while Notre Dame got hot in the second half and shot 51.9 percent for the game. FSU’s bench outscored the Irish, 33-10.
The Noles stayed resilient, as they converted a turnover into a three-point play by Thomas in the paint to cut their deficit to just 59-57 with 3:54 remaining. Ultimately, Notre Dame made its free throws down the stretch to get the six-point victory. Junior guard Jewell Loyd finished with a game high 20 points on just 6-of-15 shooting, while Lindsay Allen added 18 big points for the Irish.
A layup by Notre Dame’s Madison Cable with 12:46 left gave the Fighting Irish its first lead at 46-45. Later, Jones drew a smart shooting foul off an inbound play and converted both freebies to knot the game at 49-49, giving Jones her sixth double-figure performance of the season with 10 points. Brittany Brown recorded her first field goal off an offensive put-back to tie the game again at 51-51 with 8:43 left.
The Noles jumped out to a 10-1 run to begin the second half, courtesy of a couple key 3-balls from Jones as FSU held a 39-29 lead. Notre Dame began to establish its rhythm on offense, but Thomas found ways to get open inside for the Noles as they took a 43-36 lead with 15:03 left.
Florida State’s defense held tough through the first 20 minutes as it took a 29-28 lead into the halftime locker room. Notre Dame’s 28 points were its lowest first-half total of the season, and it was just the second halftime deficit this season by the Fighting Irish.
When she was able to get her shot off, Romero was very efficient from the floor, going 5-of-6 for 12 points, including 2-of-2 from long distance. Trying for the last shot to end the half, Romero hit a beautiful runner jumper to the right side, only for Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen to hit about a 45-foot runner right before the halftime buzzer to cut its deficit to just one point. UND was held to just 11-of-26 from the floor, while FSU shot 12-of-34.
FSU was able to hold Notre Dame’s chief playmakers Jewell Loyd and Briana Turner to a combined 10 points at halftime. The Noles also head a 22-16 rebounding edge, including eight offensive boards.
FSU tried to steal the momentum from the get-go, taking a 17-6 lead on a basket from Thomas with 9:06 left in the first half. Notre Dame would eventually close the gap and go on a 13-7 run capped by a basket from Loyd to cut its deficit to 24-19 with 3:53 remaining in the first half. Adut Bulgak would respond by hitting an open 3-pointer from the wing, the ninth game she has drilled a triple, to give FSU a 27-19 lead with 3:19 left.
A quick 6-0 run by the Irish included a contested layup by Kathryn Westbeld to cut FSU’s lead to 27-25 before Allen’s eventual buzzer-beating shot.
Florida State’s half-court ball pressure forced Notre Dame to miss six of its first seven shots as FSU held a 6-2 lead through the first media timeout. The Irish did not score its first basket until 3 ½ minutes into the game on a driving layup from Loyd.
Following a 6-2 lead, the Noles went on a 9-2 run aided by the play of Romero. The Las Palmas, Spain, native hit a few pull-up jumpers and drained a 3-pointer to help FSU to a 15-4 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
The Noles are back on the road with a matchup at Clemson on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m.
For all information on Florida State Women’s Basketball, be sure to head to our Facebook (Facebook.com/FSUWomensBasketball), Twitter (@FSU_WBasketball) and Instagram (FSU_WomensBasketball) sites.
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