Florida (11-2) slipped to No. 1. Today at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut he scored 9 UConn (8-2) with a score of 85-77.
Game summary
Florida got icy cold early on. The Seminoles missed his first eight shots. To their credit, the Knolls had some good shots but weren’t down. We made the most of the race for a 10-0 lead before breaking it. However, the Husky’s onslaught did not end and they extended their lead to 19-5. The Knowles fought back a bit, but the deficit was still 26-11 at the end of the first quarter.
Knowles did a little better in the second quarter, but still struggled to close the gap. The inside-outside duo of Aaliyah Edwards and Lou Lopez-Senechal were a good fit for FSU. However, the Seminoles started to heat up a bit as Mariana Valenzuela and Erin Howard hit some jumpers. Still, Knowles was still trailing UConn 53-35 in the half, and the Seminoles were in danger of being kicked out of the gym.
Florida will be available in Q3. The quarter started with the two teams trading baskets, but then Noles took the lead. Howard started with his old-fashioned three-pointer play. This allowed FSU to cut his 12-4 lead to 63-51. Lopez Senéchal fired his two free throws, but Knowles kept the momentum going. FSU hit the Huskies on an 11-2 run, cutting the lead to 67-62 with 1:20 left in the quarter. UConn finished the quarter with four straight free throws to build his 71-62 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The two teams started in the quarter trading buckets, but midway through the quarter a Howard 3-ball cut the lead to 76–71. The teams exchanged baskets until another three of him from Howard cut him the lead to 80-76 with 3:23 remaining. It was as close as the Knolls would get, but they managed to score just one more point and the Huskies walked away with a hard 85-77 victory.
post game
Ta’Niya Latson led the Seminoles with 24 points despite fouling out with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Erin Howard scored his 18 points and McKayla Timpson and Marianna Valenzuela each scored his 11 points.
Florida State did not have Taylor O’Brien, who has been absent since the Nov. 13 Georgia State game.
UConn was without Paige Bookers, Azzie Fudd, Ice Brady and coach Geno Auriemma.
The game was virtually over in the first quarter with UConn leading 19-5. Few teams dig a big hole in the Husky and come back to win the game. This young Florida State team has pretty much done it.
Early in the game, FSU was unable to buy a bucket and stop UConn’s offense, especially Aaliyah Edwards. The game changed when Knolls started flipping the Huskies and got some easy transition points. After that, FSU started getting hot, especially from the outside of Howard and Valenzuela.
It should be mentioned that a technical foul was called on the FSU bench with 2:05 remaining in the second quarter. Knowles had the ball at the moment, effectively giving UConn four points, but UConn was awarded two free throws and the ball. At the time, Connecticut was winning 51-28, so it didn’t seem like a big deal, but FSU fought back in the fourth quarter.
However, the story of this game (at least from FSU’s point of view) is that after Latson and Timpson fouled out, Knowles was back in the game against a very good opponent on the road. FSU could have easily folded as he was down 53-35 at halftime, but the young team kept fighting and almost succeeded in a big upset. If the Seminoles were able to convert some of the good looks they got early in the game, this could have been a very different contest.
Still, the Knowles learned a little bit about themselves today. FSU posted a flashy 11-1 record, but the competition was no killer’s one. The schedule strength was below 190 before this match (now 166). With a relatively loose schedule, it was hard to see how good this team was. we have a better idea now.
Florida State isn’t looking to win morally, but they proved today that they can go toe-to-toe with Blue Bloods on the road even after a rough start.
FSU can gain confidence from this performance. The Seminoles appear to be in good shape as the meeting schedule begins.
next game
Florida welcomes Miami to Tallahassee on Wednesday. The game will tip off at noon and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
