Courtesy: Justyn Thomas
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Leticia Romero had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to lead No. 11 Florida State to a 79-36 victory over Mercer on Tuesday night for its sixth straight win in the series.
Romero made a career-high four 3-pointers as Florida State hit a season-high 10 from 3-point range.
Florida State made four 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of the second quarter, the last by Maria Conde for a 34-20 lead. The Seminoles led by double figures the rest of the way.
Mercer pulled to 46-34 but Brittany Brown answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run to close the third quarter. Florida State scored the first 22 points of the fourth as Mercer didn't score until the 1:45 mark.
Shakayla Thomas had 18 points for Florida State (8-2), which has won eight of its last nine games.
Kahlia Lawrence and Sydni Means scored nine points each for Mercer (6-4).
POST-GAME NOTES COMPILED BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION
• Junior point guard Leticia Romero was on the cusp of her second career triple-double at FSU but finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. She missed a good portion of the fourth period due to a sizeable lead.
• All 10 active student-athletes got into the points column for the second time this season. The final player to score for FSU was freshman guard Rachel Antoniadou, who nailed a baseline 3-pointer with 3:05 remaining.
• FSU ended the game against Mercer on a 33-2 run. The Noles outscored the Bears 24-2 in the final period and 41-16 in the second half.
• Junior forward Ivey Slaughter finished with a season-high tying 10 rebounds. Slaughter also pulled down 10 boards in FSU’s last home game vs. Temple.
• Romero made a career-high four 3-point field goals in Tuesday’s contest.
• For the first time this season junior Brittany Brown did not record a steal.
• Rachel Antoniadou has made three of her last six 3-point field goal attempts.
• Sophomore Shakayla Thomas finished with a game-high 18 points on 9-of-18 shooting. In all 10 games, Thomas has shot 50 percent or better. She also led FSU with two steals.
• The Seminoles finished with a season-high 54 rebounds, eclipsing their previous high of 51 vs. Tulane.
• FSU’s 10 made 3-point field goals were a season high as it shot 50 percent from beyond the arc. Prior to today’s game FSU had not made 10 3-pointers in its previous three games combined.
• FSU finished with a positive assist/turnover (19/14) ratio for the sixth time this season.
• FSU’s 26-9 edge in second-chance points was the fifth time it scored 20+ points in the respective category.
• FSU’s 32 bench points were a season high.
• The Noles now own a non-conference home win streak of 30 games, an overall home win streak of 23 games and a home win streak in December at 21 games.
• The Seminoles are now 37-2 in their last 39 games vs. unranked opponents (AP Poll).
POST-GAME QUOTES
Coach Sue:
Opening Statement:
“I was really pleased with our effort on the defensive end of the floor. Third quarter I thought we might let up a little bit but we challenged them and finished the game on a 33-2 run. And to give up only two points in the fourth quarter, I thought was extremely impressive. The other thing I thought we challenged them with was to really find each other and move the ball. Positive assist turnover and 19 assists on 30 buckets is pretty special. Then the last thing was rebounding and to have a 32-10 rebounding engine in the first half, we weren’t shooting the ball well but we did go to the offensive boards extremely hard.”
When the team isn’t shooting really well, how special is it that you guys can get the offensive boards and keep getting those second chance points?
“That’s what we pride ourselves on. You think about Leticia Romero who’s being a point guard having four offensive rebounds is special. You think about Brittany Brown and how hard she goes to the boards, and Adut Bulgak and Ivey Slaughter are world class rebounders.”
On the defensive end, was that another gear we saw in terms of defense for this team?
“It was a mental gear. We have the ability to move very well, I think, defensively but when you move without purpose, it’s not effective. I thought we worked extremely hard defensively in our zone in the last couple of days. I thought it was really sharp in the second half.”
This isn’t a team that is known for bringing in three’s, is that something we may be seeing more in the future?
“We just hit each other in the hands. I mean it was the passes, we can shoot it. Oftentimes, we’re throwing passes that we had to try to collect and that’s just the difference.”
Romero made a career-high four 3-pointers as Florida State hit a season-high 10 from 3-point range.
Florida State made four 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of the second quarter, the last by Maria Conde for a 34-20 lead. The Seminoles led by double figures the rest of the way.
Mercer pulled to 46-34 but Brittany Brown answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run to close the third quarter. Florida State scored the first 22 points of the fourth as Mercer didn't score until the 1:45 mark.
Shakayla Thomas had 18 points for Florida State (8-2), which has won eight of its last nine games.
Kahlia Lawrence and Sydni Means scored nine points each for Mercer (6-4).
POST-GAME NOTES COMPILED BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION
• Junior point guard Leticia Romero was on the cusp of her second career triple-double at FSU but finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. She missed a good portion of the fourth period due to a sizeable lead.
• All 10 active student-athletes got into the points column for the second time this season. The final player to score for FSU was freshman guard Rachel Antoniadou, who nailed a baseline 3-pointer with 3:05 remaining.
• FSU ended the game against Mercer on a 33-2 run. The Noles outscored the Bears 24-2 in the final period and 41-16 in the second half.
• Junior forward Ivey Slaughter finished with a season-high tying 10 rebounds. Slaughter also pulled down 10 boards in FSU’s last home game vs. Temple.
• Romero made a career-high four 3-point field goals in Tuesday’s contest.
• For the first time this season junior Brittany Brown did not record a steal.
• Rachel Antoniadou has made three of her last six 3-point field goal attempts.
• Sophomore Shakayla Thomas finished with a game-high 18 points on 9-of-18 shooting. In all 10 games, Thomas has shot 50 percent or better. She also led FSU with two steals.
• The Seminoles finished with a season-high 54 rebounds, eclipsing their previous high of 51 vs. Tulane.
• FSU’s 10 made 3-point field goals were a season high as it shot 50 percent from beyond the arc. Prior to today’s game FSU had not made 10 3-pointers in its previous three games combined.
• FSU finished with a positive assist/turnover (19/14) ratio for the sixth time this season.
• FSU’s 26-9 edge in second-chance points was the fifth time it scored 20+ points in the respective category.
• FSU’s 32 bench points were a season high.
• The Noles now own a non-conference home win streak of 30 games, an overall home win streak of 23 games and a home win streak in December at 21 games.
• The Seminoles are now 37-2 in their last 39 games vs. unranked opponents (AP Poll).
POST-GAME QUOTES
Coach Sue:
Opening Statement:
“I was really pleased with our effort on the defensive end of the floor. Third quarter I thought we might let up a little bit but we challenged them and finished the game on a 33-2 run. And to give up only two points in the fourth quarter, I thought was extremely impressive. The other thing I thought we challenged them with was to really find each other and move the ball. Positive assist turnover and 19 assists on 30 buckets is pretty special. Then the last thing was rebounding and to have a 32-10 rebounding engine in the first half, we weren’t shooting the ball well but we did go to the offensive boards extremely hard.”
When the team isn’t shooting really well, how special is it that you guys can get the offensive boards and keep getting those second chance points?
“That’s what we pride ourselves on. You think about Leticia Romero who’s being a point guard having four offensive rebounds is special. You think about Brittany Brown and how hard she goes to the boards, and Adut Bulgak and Ivey Slaughter are world class rebounders.”
On the defensive end, was that another gear we saw in terms of defense for this team?
“It was a mental gear. We have the ability to move very well, I think, defensively but when you move without purpose, it’s not effective. I thought we worked extremely hard defensively in our zone in the last couple of days. I thought it was really sharp in the second half.”
This isn’t a team that is known for bringing in three’s, is that something we may be seeing more in the future?
“We just hit each other in the hands. I mean it was the passes, we can shoot it. Oftentimes, we’re throwing passes that we had to try to collect and that’s just the difference.”
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