2011-12 Women's Basketball - Year In Review

2011-12 Women's Basketball - Year In Review

Coaching Staff
Sue Semrau, Head Coach
Ke'Sha Blanton, Graduate Assistant
Melissa Bruner, Director of Operations
Rene Haynes, Graduate Assistant
Angie Johnson, Assistant Coach
Kelly Mathis, Recruiting Coordinator
Dave Plettl, Strength and Conditioning
Lance White, Assistant Coach
Brooke Wyckoff, Assistant Coach

Click here for team picture

Click here to see individual mug shots
2011-12 Women's Basketball


Assistant Coach Cori Close became the head coach for UCLA on April 21, 2011.
Former Seminole great Brooke Wyckoff was hired as an assistant coach on June 7, 2011.

2011-12 Florida State Signees/Newcomers

Emma Loucks, 5-10, G, Clearwater

Kristi Mokube, 6-2, F, Phenix City, Ala.

Morgan Toles, 5-9, G, Fayetteville, Ga.

Ebony Wells, 6-2, F, Grovetown, Ga.


2011-12 Roster - By Name

L
T                                             PY
R No Name                  Pos     Hgt   Cl   Ltr  Hometown (Prior School)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 54 Cierra Bravard        F       6-4   Sr   ***  Sandusky, Ohio (Perkins)
* 22 Olivia Bresnahan      G       5-11  So   *    Butler, Pa. (Butler)
* 00 Chasity Clayton       F       6-0   Jr-R **   Orlando (Edison)
  32 Lauren Coleman        F       6-0   So   *    Lawrenceville, Ga. (Parkview)
* 34 Chelsea Davis         F       6-2   Jr   **   Middletown, Del. (Middletown)
*  3 Alexa Deluzio         G       5-11  Jr-R **   Orlando (First Academy)
* 33 Natasha Howard        F       6-3   So   *    Toledo, Ohio (Waite)
*  4 Emma Loucks           G       5-10  Fr        Clearwater (Clearwater)
* 14 Tay'ler Mingo         G       5-7   So   *    Akron, Ohio (Regina)
* 20 Kristi Mokube         F       6-2   Fr        Phenix City, Ala. (Phenix City Central)
* 10 Leonor Rodriguez      G       5-11  Jr   **   Canary Islands, Spain (Guaydil)
*  1 Morgan Toles          G       5-9   Jr        Fayetteville, Ga. (Sandy Creek/Auburn)
  31 Ebony Wells           F       6-2   Fr        Grovetown, Ga. (Grovetown)

2011-12 Roster - By Number

L
T                                             PY
R No Name                  Pos     Hgt   Cl   Ltr  Hometown (Prior School)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*  1 Morgan Toles          G       5-9   Jr        Fayetteville, Ga. (Sandy Creek/Auburn)
*  3 Alexa Deluzio         G       5-11  Jr-R **   Orlando (First Academy)
*  4 Emma Loucks           G       5-10  Fr        Clearwater (Clearwater)
* 00 Chasity Clayton       F       6-0   Jr-R **   Orlando (Edison)
* 10 Leonor Rodriguez      G       5-11  Jr   **   Canary Islands, Spain (Guaydil)
* 14 Tay'ler Mingo         G       5-7   So   *    Akron, Ohio (Regina)
* 20 Kristi Mokube         F       6-2   Fr        Phenix City, Ala. (Phenix City Central)
* 22 Olivia Bresnahan      G       5-11  So   *    Butler, Pa. (Butler)
  31 Ebony Wells           F       6-2   Fr        Grovetown, Ga. (Grovetown)
  32 Lauren Coleman        F       6-0   So   *    Lawrenceville, Ga. (Parkview)
* 33 Natasha Howard        F       6-3   So   *    Toledo, Ohio (Waite)
* 34 Chelsea Davis         F       6-2   Jr   **   Middletown, Del. (Middletown)
* 54 Cierra Bravard        F       6-4   Sr   ***  Sandusky, Ohio (Perkins)

2011-12 Conference Awards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cierra Bravard           Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference - 3rd Team

Natasha Howard           Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference - 3rd Team
                         Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Defensive Team

All-Conference -  2

2011-12 Schedules and Results

DATE
POST
GAME
BOX
SCORE
LOC
OPPONENT
SCORE
11/11
Postgame
Box
N
South Florida
WBI Tipoff Classic, Daytona Beach, Fla.
W 62-49
11/12
Postgame
Box
N
Minnesota
WBI Tipoff Classic, Daytona Beach, Fla.
W 68-56
11/13
Postgame
Box
N
Arkansas
WBI Tipoff Classic, Daytona Beach, Fla.
L 52-55
11/17
Postgame
Box
A
Florida
L 58-72
11/21
Postgame
Box
H
Georgia State
W 94-74
11/25
Postgame
Box
H
Louisville
L 76-85
11/27
Postgame
Box
H
Nebraska
L 63-66
11/30
Postgame
Box
A
Ohio State
OT, ACC-Big Ten Challenge
L 75-78
12/04
Postgame
Box
H
UNC-Charlotte
W 64-62
12/10
Postgame
Box
A
Akron
W 90-64
12/19
Postgame
Box
H
Alabama A&M
W 86-41
12/22
Postgame
Box
A
Vanderbilt
L 59-64
12/28
Postgame
Box
H
Yale
W 92-58
12/30
Postgame
Box
A
Central Florida
W 60-47
01/02
Postgame
Box
H
Maryland
L 70-91
01/05
Postgame
Box
H
Clemson
W 59-47
01/08
Postgame
Box
A
Virginia Tech
W 75-40
01/13
Postgame
Box
A
Duke
L 66-73
01/15
Postgame
Box
H
Miami
L 57-60
01/19
Postgame
Box
A
Boston College
W 68-59
01/22
Postgame
Box
H
Georgia Tech
L 55-79
01/27
Postgame
Box
A
North Carolina State
W 67-64
01/29
Postgame
Box
A
Virginia
L 52-62
02/05
Postgame
Box
H
Virginia Tech
W 78-60
02/09
Postgame
Box
A
Wake Forest
L 55-65
02/12
Postgame
Box
H
Duke
L 57-67
02/15
Postgame
Box
H
North Carolina
L 66-71
02/19
Postgame
Box
A
Miami
L 60-67
02/23
Postgame
Box
A
Clemson
W 74-52
02/26
Postgame
Box
H
Virginia
L 57-66
03/01
Postgame
Box
N
North Carolina State
ACC, Greensboro, N.C.
L 71-74
EOY Stats Ref

                Overall   Home    Away   Neutral
------------------------------------------------
FSU record is   14-17     6- 8     6- 7     2- 2
vs ACC           6-10     2- 6     4- 4     0- 0


2012 Atlantic Coast Conference Results
 1  Duke                 15- 1    27- 6 
 2  Miami                14- 2    26- 6 
 3t Maryland             12- 4    31- 5 
 3t Georgia Tech         12- 4    26- 9 
 5t Virginia              9- 7    25-11 
 5t North Carolina        9- 7    20-11 
 7  Wake Forest           7- 9    20-14 
 8  Florida State         6-10    14-17 
 9  North Carolina State  5-11    19-16 
10  Virginia Tech         3-13     7-23 
11t Boston College        2-14     7-23 
11t Clemson               2-14     6-22 

2012 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, Greensboro, NC
   Date                    Score                                    Comments
==========  ==================================================  ==================================
03/01/2012  (5)North Carolina 90, (12)Clemson 51                Round 1
03/01/2012  (9)North Carolina State 74, (8)Florida State 71     Round 1
03/01/2012  (7)Wake Forest 80, (10)Virginia Tech 74             Round 1
03/01/2012  (6)Virginia 72, (11)Boston College 41               Round 1
03/02/2012  (4)Georgia Tech 54, (5)North Carolina 53            Round 2
03/02/2012  (9)North Carolina State 75, (1)Duke 73              Round 2
03/02/2012  (7)Wake Forest 81, (2)Miami 74                      Round 2
03/02/2012  (3)Maryland 70, (6)Virginia 58                      Round 2
03/03/2012  (4)Georgia Tech 87, (9)North Carolina State 61      Round 3
03/03/2012  (3)Maryland 73, (7)Wake Forest 58                   Round 3
03/04/2012  (3)Maryland 68, (4)Georgia Tech 65                  Round 4

2011-12 EOY Stats

--3 Point--- ----REBOUNDS----- Name GP GS Min FGM FGA PCT FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT PTS AVG OFF DEF TOT AVG PF DQ AST TO BLK STL =================================================================================================================================== Cierra Bravard 31 26 793 154 282 .546 0 0 .000 133 188 .707 441 14.2 64 135 199 6.4 106 3 30 104 34 18 Alexa Deluzio 31 30 1062 142 329 .432 47 134 .351 78 93 .839 409 13.2 42 79 121 3.9 40 0 72 81 13 17 Natasha Howard 31 31 935 154 316 .487 4 21 .190 67 109 .615 379 12.2 103 179 282 9.1 88 2 43 97 39 46 Chelsea Davis 31 5 594 99 206 .481 0 1 .000 86 123 .699 284 9.2 63 60 123 4.0 59 0 18 57 15 15 Chasity Clayton 29 26 864 106 292 .363 29 111 .261 16 23 .696 257 8.9 45 120 165 5.7 59 0 41 80 3 22 Leonor Rodriguez 31 26 786 53 122 .434 24 63 .381 18 24 .750 148 4.8 8 77 85 2.7 29 0 84 73 3 20 Olivia Bresnahan 30 4 657 27 81 .333 0 2 .000 18 36 .500 72 2.4 15 53 68 2.3 27 0 59 67 6 24 Tay'ler Mingo 12 4 283 16 42 .381 1 4 .250 14 26 .538 47 3.9 7 19 26 2.2 28 0 39 29 0 13 Kristi Mokube 27 0 124 16 29 .552 0 0 .000 1 9 .111 33 1.2 16 28 44 1.6 34 0 1 19 4 3 Morgan Toles 4 3 128 7 15 .467 0 0 .000 2 3 .667 16 4.0 2 7 9 2.3 11 0 11 14 0 3 Emma Loucks 1 0 1 0 1 .000 0 1 .000 0 0 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 60 79 139 0.0 7 ============================================================================================================== FSU 31 774 1715 .451 105 337 .312 433 634 .683 2086 67.3 425 836 1261 40.7 481 5 398 628 117 181 Opp 31 741 1970 .376 150 486 .309 336 494 .680 1968 63.5 459 626 1085 35.0 558 11 379 471 95 275

Florida State 62, South Florida 49
11/11/2011, WBI Tipoff Classic, Daytona Beach, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Season-Opening W!

Florida State defeated USF 62-49.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The No. 13/14-ranked Florida State women's basketball team shook off a slow start to grab a season-opening 62-49 victory over USF on Friday at the WBI Classic.

Sophomore forward Natasha Howard tallied her fourth career double-double (10 points and 13 rebounds) and sophomore point guard Tay'ler Mingo scored a career-best 12 points in her first career start, as FSU used a 15-0 run in the first half to take control against the Bulls at the Ocean Center.

The Noles never relinquished the lead and when the Bulls got close in the second half they held them without a field goal for over four minutes.

"We consider ourselves a defensive team, and we just always want to get the momentum," Mingo said.

Mingo was the catalyst for that momentum a lot of the game, twice pick-pocketing the Bulls' point guard and taking the ball coast-to-coast for easy layups.

She finished 5-of-7 from the field and also had a pair of assists in a career-best 30 minutes.

"When we recruited Tay'ler we told her she would have a year to be an understudy to All-ACC point guard Courtney Ward," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "She took that seriously. She knew she would have the opportunity to take over the reins. She did a fantastic job today."

Mingo wasn't alone in having a solid first game for the Noles, as four other players reached double figures.

Senior center Cierra Bravard scored all 11 of her points in the second half to keep her streak of consecutive games in double figures going at 22. Junior Chelsea Davis had 11 off the bench, while Deluzio scored 11 in a game-high 36 minutes. Howard had 10 along with her game- and-career high 13 boards.

Florida State's first basket didn't come until Deluzio hit a corner jumper at the 14:32 mark in the first half. By that time USF had already built a 7-0 lead, but the Seminoles took control of the first half behind a 15-0 run sparked by a Howard jumper 10 minutes into the game. Mingo capped the run with one of her signature steal-and-layup combos to give FSU a 24-16 lead it wouldn't relinquish.

The Bulls pulled close in the second half, but the Noles' defense didn't break.

After a three-pointer by USF's Caitlin Rowe made the score 44-40 with 8:41 remaining, FSU held the Bulls scoreless for a 4:21 span, taking a 51-40 lead in the process.

The game featured the sloppiness expected from a season-openers with both teams combining for 47 turnovers, but Florida State stayed tough on defense and dominated the boards to the tune of a 50-36 advantage en route to its 18th straight victory to start a season.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  36   3  10    0    3   5   7  11      1    5   6  0   1  2   0   3
00 Chasity Clayton       f  32   1   7    0    2   2   2   4      3    5   8  3   1  2   0   1
14 Tay'ler Mingo         g  30   5   7    0    0   2   4  12      1    3   4  1   2  2   0   2
33 Natasha Howard        f  33   4  14    0    1   2   4  10      4    9  13  2   1  5   1   2
54 Cierra Bravard        c  20   3   8    0    0   5  10  11      4    4   8  4   0  5   2   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez          9   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   0  1   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube             3   1   1    0    0   0   2   2      0    1   1  2   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         15   0   1    0    0   1   2   1      0    0   0  3   2  1   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            22   2   6    0    0   7   7  11      1    5   6  3   1  4   1   2
   Team                                                           2    2   4         1        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  19  54    0    6  24  38  62     16   34  50 19   8 23   4  13
   Opp                     200  18  57    2   14  11  23  49     12   24  36 28   8 24   4   8


  1 2 Total
Florida State
26
36
62
South Florida
19
30
49

Florida State 68, Minnesota 56
11/12/2011, WBI Tipoff Classic, Daytona Beach, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Noles Win Again.

The No. 13/14-ranked Florida State women's basketball team moved to 2-0.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - If it's true that defense wins championships then the No. 13/14-ranked Florida State women's basketball team is off to a great start at the WBI Tip-Off Classic.

The Seminoles held Minnesota scoreless for six minutes down the stretch to clinch a 68-56 win on Saturday at the Ocean Center.

Junior guard Alexa Deluzio scored a game-high 17 points and hit consecutive three-pointers that broke open a one-point game with just over five minutes remaining in the contest.

Junior forward Chasity Clayton chipped in with 16 points, while senior post Cierra Bravard scored 11 points - her 23rd straight game in double figures.

Sophomore forward Natasha Howard grabbed 12 rebounds, a day after snagging 13, as FSU held a commanding 47-39 advantage on the boards.

"The defensive end is where it happened - defense and rebounding," FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. "To be able to buckle down on the second day, playing another BCS school and hold a team scoreless for six minutes and only to four points - two free throws and one jumper - in the last six minutes is a huge complement to our growth."

The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 44-37 advantage five minutes into the second half on a layup by Katie Loberg, but the Noles slowly etched away at their lead over the next six minutes and took over on a pair of free throw swishes from Bravard, 47-46, with 8:49 left in the game.

After Minnesota point guard Rachel Banaham hit a three-pointer at the 6:39 mark to cut into FSU's 51-50 lead, Deluzio answered with a pair of back-breaking corner three-pointers that sparked an 11-0 Noles' run.

"I think not only Lex hitting those shots, but Tay'ler (Mingo) finding her was huge," Semrau said. "We got great penetration, Lex got her feet set, and she confidently knocked them down."

The FSU defense did the rest from there, as Minnesota didn't hit another field goal until 37 seconds remained. At that point, Florida State was already ahead, 66-54.

Mingo, FSU's sophomore point guard, dished a career-high five assists and Clayton matched her career-best with two treys made.

Clayton had a fantastic stretch and almost single-handedly gave the Seminoles the lead at the end of the first half. With FSU down 26-20, Clayton hit a pair of three-pointers, a jumper and a layup in the final five minutes before the halftime buzzer, as FSU took a 33-32 lead into the break.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  32   5  10    3    4   4   4  17      3    5   8  1   3  3   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  32   7  17    2    6   0   0  16      0    2   2  1   1  4   0   1
14 Tay'ler Mingo         g  29   2   7    0    0   1   4   5      0    2   2  2   5  3   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  31   4   7    0    1   0   4   8      4    8  12  4   1  3   1   2
54 Cierra Bravard        c  22   3   8    0    0   5   6  11      4    2   6  4   0  2   2   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez          8   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   1  1   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube             2   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      1    0   1  1   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         20   0   2    0    0   0   2   0      0    0   0  1   1  1   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            24   2   5    0    1   5   6   9      3    0   3  1   1  1   0   1
   Team                                                           6    7  13                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  58    5   13  15  26  68     21   26  47 15  13 18   4   6
   Opp                     200  23  67    4   12   6  12  56     21   18  39 23  12 18   2   6


  1 2 Total
Florida State
33
35
68
Minnesota
32
24
56

Arkansas 55, Florida State 52
11/13/2011, WBI Tipoff Classic, Daytona Beach, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Finishes 2-1 at Tip-Off Classic.

Florida State falls, 55-52, to Arkansas on Sunday.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - A three-point basket by Arkansas forward Sarah Watkins with 23 seconds left gave Arkansas a 55-52 lead and handed the No. 13/14-ranked Florida State women's basketball team its first loss of the season on Sunday during final day action at the WBI Classic.

The Seminoles finished 2-1 at the preseason event held at the Ocean Center. Junior forward Chasity Clayton led FSU with 15 points, while senior post Cierra Bravard scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Clayton and Alexa Deluzio were named to the All-Tournament Team along with Watkins, who finished with 15 points and nine boards for the Razorbacks (2-1).

Florida State held Arkansas to just 32.1 percent shooting, but was outrebounded 44-26.

"It really came down to the defensive end," Seminoles' head coach Sue Semrau said. "I thought we got the looks we wanted. (Cierra) Bravard went 6-for-7. She played well, but there's no question it comes down to the defensive end."

Bravard, who picked up her fourth foul with 4:23 remaining in the game, tied the game 52-52 on a basket with 43 seconds remaining in the game, but Watkins answered with a three at the top of the key to give the Razorbacks a three-point lead.

The Noles tried to find an open three-point look on the ensuing possession, but sophomore point guard Tay'ler Mingo was forced to attempt a layup in the lane where she was stripped of the ball. After a fight for the loose ball, a jump ball was called with two seconds left with the possession arrow pointing towards Florida State.

After one FSU timeout and two Arkansas timeouts, Florida State took the ball out of bounds under its own basket for one last chance. Mingo's inbounds pass was intercepted by Arkansas' Calli Berna, however.

The Noles defense clamped down midway through the first half, holding the Razorbacks without a field goal for nearly 11 minutes.

A three-pointer by Lyndsay Harris (10 points) gave Arkansas an 18-10 lead at the 10:50 mark of the first half, but the Razorbacks missed their next nine field goals and didn't make a another until C'iera Ricketts (13 points) beat the halftime buzzer with layup.

Mingo's first career three-pointer with eight minutes left in the first half sparked a 12-1 FSU run that gave the Seminoles their first lead, 22-20, on a basket by Deluzio at the 5:00 mark.

With Bravard and sophomore forward Natasha Howard in foul trouble late in the first half, freshman post Kristi Mokube came off the bench to spark the Noles to a 33-28 halftime lead. She scored six points and grabbed three boards in seven minutes before the break.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  31   3   6    0    2   0   0   6      1    1   2  2   3  1   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  30   4  15    2    4   5   8  15      0    1   1  3   0  1   0   2
14 Tay'ler Mingo         g  32   1   6    1    3   2   2   5      1    3   4  2   3  2   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  24   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      1    5   6  4   0  4   1   0
54 Cierra Bravard        f  22   6   7    0    0   0   1  12      1    2   3  4   1  4   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez         17   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   2  0   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube             9   3   4    0    0   0   0   6      1    2   3  1   0  0   1   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         18   1   3    0    0   0   2   2      1    1   2  0   2  0   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            17   2   4    0    0   2   2   6      0    0   0  3   0  3   0   0
   Team                                                           1    3   4         1        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  20  48    3   10   9  15  52      7   19  26 20  11 16   2   4
   Opp                     200  17  53    4   16  17  27  55     20   24  44 19   7 17   1   6


  1 2 Total
Florida State
33
19
52
Arkansas
28
27
55

Florida 72, Florida State 58
11/17/2011, Gainesville, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Noles Fall at Florida.

Bravard scored 22 points in the loss.

GAINESVILLE, FL - Senior post Cierra Bravard scored 22 points and grabbed nine boards, but No. 19/21 Florida State fell to Florida, 72-58, on Thursday at the O'Connell Center.

Natasha Howard added her second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but no other Nole scored more than six points as FSU was held to just 35.5 percent shooting.

Led by forward Jennifer George's 18 points, Florida put four players in double figures and shot 46.8 percent from the floor.

"Florida came out and just played a great game; played with a lot more heart and passion than we did," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "They are just a gritty team. They've got a lot of experience back from last year and it shows."

The Noles made just three of their first 13 shots and didn't hit a field goal until four and a half minutes in. Florida opened up a 21-8 lead on a fastbreak layup by Deana Allen at the 11:53 mark. Bravard, who faced double and triple teams the entire game, brought FSU back into the game.

The 6-4 Sandusky, Ohio, native scored five consecutive points and emphatically swatted a layup by Florida's Brittany Shine.

Howard's basket five minutes before the break capped a 15-6 run for the Seminoles and brought them within four - 27-23.

Florida closed the half on a 14-4 run, however. Prompted by a trio of free throws and a three-point bomb from Jordan Jones, who scored all 14 of her points in the first half, the Gators took a 41-27 lead into the break.

After the break, the Seminoles drew five fouls on Florida in the first four minutes and made five of their first eight shots of the second half. The Gators maintained control of the game by making four of their first five field goal attempts in the final frame, though.

The closest Florida State got the rest of the way was seven points on a pair of Bravard free throws that made the score 53-46 with 12:33 remaining.

Bravard's "And-1" layup with 9:53 remaining made the score 60-51 and put her over the 20-point mark for the ninth time in her career.

With just over five minutes left, Florida guard Jaterra Bonds tossed up a desperate three-point jumper to beat a shot clock violation that clanged off the rim. As it did most of the night, the ball bounced the Gators way - right to Allen, who was fouled on her putback attempt and drilled both free throws to put UF ahead by 14 - the final margin.

Bravard fouled out with 3:48 to play when she and Florida's Azania Stewart were assessed double technical fouls, while tussling for the ball.

Florida held a slim 41-38 advantage on the boards, but outscored the Noles, 44-30, in the paint and had 15 fastbreak points compared to FSU's four.

FSU dropped to 2-2, while Florida improved to 2-1.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  40   0   8    0    4   6   6   6      1    2   3  2   2  4   0   2
00 Chasity Clayton       f  18   2   9    1    3   0   0   5      1    3   4  1   0  1   0   0
14 Tay'ler Mingo         g  28   1   5    0    1   1   2   3      2    1   3  3   5  3   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  36   8  18    0    2   0   3  16      6    4  10  2   2  3   0   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  29   8  14    0    0   6   9  22      3    6   9  5   0  5   1   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez         24   2   2    0    0   0   0   4      1    3   4  1   1  1   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube             1   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         10   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  1   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            14   1   6    0    0   0   0   2      4    1   5  1   0  0   0   1
   Team                                                           3        3         1        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  22  62    1   10  13  20  58     21   20  41 15  10 19   1   7
   Opp                     200  29  62    2   12  12  14  72     15   23  38 18  17 15   6   9


  1 2 Total
Florida State
27
31
58
Florida
41
31
72

Florida State 94, Georgia State 74
11/21/2011, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Home Sweet Home.

A career game from junior Chelsea Davis leads FSU to the win.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Coming off two consecutive losses, the No. 21-ranked Florida State women's basketball team needed a spark in their home opener Monday night against Georgia State.

The Seminoles' junior class provided it.

Junior forward Chelsea Davis came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points, while redshirt junior wings Alexa Deluzio (20 points) and Chasity Clayton (18 points) nabbed season highs, as Florida State improved to 3-2 with a 94-74 home-opening win over Georgia State (0-2) at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The victory marked the 13th consecutive win in a home opener for the Noles.

"We're pretty deep into the season for it to be our first home game," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "We've learned a lot on the road. We've started a little slower than we hoped. We're patient. I thought Lex (Deluzio) did a great job of running the show tonight. Obviously, Chelsea Davis having a career night was huge for us as well."

Deluzio added eight rebounds and five assists - both one away from her career-best marks, and made 10-of-12 free throws.

FSU held a commanding 48-34 edge on the glass which came in handy against a physical Georgia State team that fought hard on defense and held a slight edge in shooting percentage (42.6 to 42.2).

The Seminoles had trouble fending off the Panthers in the first half, making just 2 of their first 10 field goal attempts. With four minutes remaining before halftime, FSU and GSU were tied 29-29, but then Davis got rolling.

The 6-2 Middletown, Del., native sparked a 10-2 FSU run to end the half with six straight points in just over a minute.

By halftime, Davis already had her ninth career double figure game as FSU took a 39-31 lead at the break.

She continued to bulldoze her way into the paint to score in the second half, reaching her career high on a mix of layups and post jumpers while making a career-best nine free throws in 15 attempts.

"It was a very energetic game," Davis said. "I liked how we came out especially in the second half, encouraging each other. I love that. The energy helped with everything."

FSU clung to a 58-50 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the game when GSU started to run out of gas.

The Noles proved they were just speeding up when a Deluzio three with 12 minutes left catapulted the team on an 11-0 run.

Clayton extended the advantage to 69-50 with her career-best fourth trey at the 8:33 mark.

Junior Leo Rodriguez, making her first career start and playing a career-best 25 minutes, put the exclamation point on the victory dominated by the junior class by making her first three-pointer of the season with 1:30 left to put FSU up 92-70.

Rodriguez's final line was five points, three assists, two boards, two steals and zero turnovers.

Senior post Cierra Bravard extended her double-figure scoring streak to 26 games with 11 points to go along with a game-high nine boards.

After four games on the road against solid BCS conference teams to start the season, FSU was anxious to come home even if the schedule doesn't get any easier.

The Noles host two challenging games right after Thanksgiving, welcoming No. 9/11 Louisville at 7 p.m. on Friday and Nebraska at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Seminoles recognized the importance in the win.

"We needed it," Deluzio said. "We are going to build our confidence and we are going to carry it over to the next game and win that game and carry it over to the next game. But tonight was really fun. I really enjoyed playing tonight."

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  35   4  11    2    4  10  12  20      5    3   8  1   5  2   0   1
00 Chasity Clayton       f  32   5  17    4    9   4   4  18      2    6   8  1   1  3   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  25   1   3    1    3   2   2   5      0    2   2  3   3  0   0   2
33 Natasha Howard        f  16   3   4    0    0   1   2   7      2    5   7  4   3  3   1   0
54 Cierra Bravard        f  24   3   9    0    0   5   5  11      3    6   9  4   0  2   1   2
14 Tay'ler Mingo            24   3   4    0    0   2   3   8      0    2   2  3   4  2   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube             5   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      1    0   1  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         14   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    2   2  0   0  2   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            25   8  15    0    0   9  15  25      5    0   5  4   0  1   0   0
   Team                                                           2    2   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  27  64    7   16  33  43  94     20   28  48 20  16 15   2   8
   Opp                     200  26  61    7   13  15  24  74     12   22  34 28  15 18   3   6


  1 2 Total
Georgia State
31
43
74
Florida State
39
55
94

Louisville 85, Florida State 76
11/25/2011, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Falls to No. 11 Louisville, 85-76.

Cierra Bravard scored a career-high 27 points.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Down by as many as 12 points in the second half, the No. 24-ranked Florida State women's basketball team fought back to tie the game in the final five minutes versus No. 11/12-ranked Louisville on Friday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Cardinals' offensive output was too much in the end, however, as they captured a hard fought 85-76 victory over the Seminoles.

Senior post Cierra Bravard scored a career-best 27 points and FSU shot a season-best 48.2 percent from the field, but made 24 turnovers and allowed Louisville to make 48.4 percent of its field goals.

The Seminoles dropped to 3-3 on the year, while Louisville improved to 5-1.

"Obviously, a loss is never what we want to take," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "I think during spurts, you saw a pretty good team. Then we'd have a spurt that isn't who we want to be. It's early. We have a chance to continue to grow with the tough schedule we've put in front of us. We could've scheduled a lot lighter and been 6-0 right now, but that wouldn't have done us any good later on. We fought back, but we didn't bear down when we had opportunities. Louisville is a great team."

Florida State began the season playing its first four games away from home and will have played six of its first seven contests against opponents from the "Big Six" conferences after hosting Nebraska at 2 p.m. ET this Sunday.

The Cardinals led by 12 points two minutes into the second half and still were in front by 10 after a layup by freshman guard Bria Smith put Louisville ahead, 66-56, with 7:35 remaining.

Florida State refused to give up on their home floor, though, and got back in the game with a 10-0 run capped by a difficult leaner from junior guard Alexa Deluzio and a three-pointer from sophomore forward Natasha Howard. Howard's bomb made the score 66-66 with 4:52 left, but Louisville point guard Shoni Schimmel answered with a trey of her own 30 seconds later to give the Cardinals the lead for good.

The Noles came as close as a point, 71-70, with 3:38 left, on a pair free throws from Bravard, who was a perfect 11-of-11 from the line.

Schimmel led Louisville with 25 points and seven assists, while senior forward Monique Reid added 23 points off the bench.

"They're a great basketball team," said Deluzio, who finished with 12 points. "We had every opportunity to close that game out. We need to learn how to make those runs and capitalize on their turnovers, get rebounds and score in transition. When we made that run, we needed to nail them, and we didn't do that."

In her second career start, sophomore guard Leo Rodriguez dished a career-high seven assists - in the first half alone. She finished with eight helpers and three points, while playing a career-best 25 minutes for the second straight game.

Rodriguez and Deluzio got the Noles' offense humming to the tune of a season-best 53.3 percent shooting before the break, but Louisville was also red hot in the first half, shooting 52.9 percent.

The Cardinals scored the game's first seven points and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. Reid was the catalyst, scoring 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting at the charity stripe.

Back-to-back Reid buckets put the Cardinals ahead, 27-16, midway through the first half.

Florida State closed the gap before the break, though. Rodriguez fed Bravard and sophomore Olivia Bresnahan on back-to-back baskets to tie the score, 39-39, with 1:43 remaining before halftime.

Just like it would later in the game, Louisville answered the Seminoles' run by scoring the first half's final seven points, including a near buzzer-beater from Schimmel, to take a 46-39 lead into the break.

Bravard finished the game 8-of-12 from the field for her career-best 27-point performance. Howard (13 points) and junior Chasity Clayton (11) also scored in double figures.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  36   5  13    1    5   1   1  12      1    3   4  1   2  4   1   1
00 Chasity Clayton       f  21   5  14    1    6   0   0  11      2    2   4  2   0  0   0   2
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  25   1   3    1    1   0   0   3      0    3   3  2   8  3   0   2
33 Natasha Howard        f  19   5   8    2    4   1   1  13      2    5   7  3   1  5   1   1
54 Cierra Bravard        f  35   8  12    0    0  11  11  27      3    3   6  4   2  4   0   1
14 Tay'ler Mingo            13   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  2   1  4   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube             0   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         24   2   3    0    0   2   4   6      1    2   3  2   1  2   1   0
34 Chelsea Davis            27   1   3    0    0   2   3   4      2    2   4  3   0  2   0   0
   Team                                                           1    1   2                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  27  56    5   16  17  20  76     12   21  33 19  15 24   3   7
   Opp                     200  31  64    6   15  17  20  85     13   18  31 17  14 17   4  11


  1 2 Total
Louisville
46
39
85
Florida State
39
37
76

Nebraska 66, Florida State 63
11/27/2011, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Edged By Nebraska.

Bravard scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting, but the Huskers came back to win.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The No. 24-ranked Florida State women's basketball team dropped a close contest to Nebraska, 66-63, on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Florida State (3-4) led for most of the game and held Nebraska to 15 points below its season average, but the Huskers mounted a furious late comeback led by junior point guard Lindsey Moore to move to 6-0.

Moore found freshman Emily Cady, who had a career-high 14 points, for a go-ahead layup with 39 seconds left to put Nebraska up by two, 62-60.

On the following possession, junior wing Chasity Clayton got a good look at a three-pointer for FSU, but it came up just short.

After a pair of free throws from Moore, junior guard Leo Rodriguez brought the Noles within one, 64-63, by drilling a three-pointer with three seconds left. Moore made two more free throws with one second left, however, and Clayton's desperation heave was off target.

"Obviously, today was a disappointment, but I have to say I am proud of my team," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "I'm proud of the energy that they brought. We haven't been the most in sync team and I thought the energy that we continued to bring throughout the course of the game was a great step for us. I think the execution down the stretch on either end wasn't what we wanted it to be.

"We didn't do a good job in the second half of getting Cierra (Bravard) the ball. She was 7-for-7 in the first half, and their guard pressure I thought was the difference in the second half."

Bravard made her first eight shots, but had just two field goal attempts in the second half. The senior preseason All-American finished with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go along with six boards, two steals and a block in 34 minutes.

Clayton finished with 10 points and nine boards, while junior guard Alexa Deluzio scored 13 and dished four assists.

Rodriguez grabbed a career-best six boards in a career-high 27 minutes.

The Seminoles led by 13 points a minute into the second half after Clayton made a trey and Howard hit a bucket to make the score 42-29.

But Florida State went cold from the field and didn't make a field goal for nearly nine minutes. After a Clayton layup made the score 48-38 with 15:42 remaining, the Noles didn't hit a field goal until junior forward Chelsea Davis' layup with 6:55 left.

Still, FSU led 52-47 at that point, but Nebraska scored eight straight points in the next minute to take its first lead, 55-52, on a three from Brandi Jeffrey.

FSU took the lead back, 56-55, with five minutes left when Deluzio drilled a trey, and the Noles held a 60-57 advantage when Deluzio made a layup with 2:22 remaining.

Jeffery hit another three-pointer to tie game with 2:04 left and Moore took care of the rest for the Huskers.

Nebraska made just three of its first 22 field goal attempts, but hung in the game with tenacity on the glass. The Huskers held a 24-18 edge on rebounds at the break and 42-41 for the game.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  34   6  12    1    2   0   1  13      0    5   5  2   4  4   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  31   4  13    2    6   0   0  10      4    5   9  4   1  0   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  27   1   3    1    2   0   0   3      0    6   6  2   4  4   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  30   3   7    0    1   3   4   9      2    3   5  4   2  3   0   1
54 Cierra Bravard        f  34   8   9    0    0   2   4  18      1    5   6  1   1  6   1   2
14 Tay'ler Mingo            12   0   3    0    0   1   2   1      0    0   0  1   0  1   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube             0   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         13   0   2    0    0   1   2   1      1    3   4  0   0  2   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            21   4  13    0    0   0   0   8      5    0   5  2   1  1   0   0
   Team                                                           1        1                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 202  26  62    4   11   7  13  63     14   27  41 16  13 21   2   3
   Opp                     202  21  65    9   31  15  16  66     16   26  42 16  12 17   2   8


  1 2 Total
Nebraska
29
37
66
Florida State
37
26
63

Ohio State 78, Florida State 75
11/30/2011, OT, ACC-Big Ten Challenge, Columbus, Ohio

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Falls to Ohio State in OT.

Bravard scored 27 and grabbed 12 boards.

COLUMBUS, OH - Senior center Cierra Bravard had a monster effort in her return to her home state, matching her career-high with 27 points and grabbing a season-best 12 boards, but No. 17/18 Ohio State got 31 points from guard Tayler Hill to prevail over Florida State in overtime, 78-75, on Wednesday night at Value City Arena in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

A Sandusky, Ohio, native, Bravard got her first double-double of the season and 13th of her career in front of family and friends.

"It was a heck of a basketball game," head coach Sue Semrau said. "I'm extremely proud of my team. We've had a tough schedule. Cierra Bravard played a great game, she was getting doubled and tripled teamed out there."

Hill put the Noles up 76-75 with 35 seconds left in overtime and made a pair of free throws to put OSU up three with 14 seconds left.

Hill, who finished with 31 points, scored the final eight points of regulation for OSU, including two deep three-pointers. Hill's layup with two seconds left knotted the score at 69-69.

FSU had a final chance with 3.5 seconds left in overtime, but sophomore Tay'ler Mingo's inbounds pass was stolen by Ohio State's Ashley Adams.

Junior Alexa Deluzio scored 17 points, while sophomore Natasha Howard grabbed 10 boards for the Noles.

Ohio State point guard Samantha Prahalis scored 11 points and dished 11 assists, but made seven turnovers and fouled out with 10 seconds left in regulation.

Florida State took control of the game midway through the second half with an 11-2 run sparked by an acrobatic Howard layup.

Deluzio drilled a corner three to put the Noles ahead for the first time in the second half, 51-50, with 9:38 remaining in the game. The 5-11 guard then put back a Chasity Clayton miss 40 seconds later to extend FSU's lead to three points.

FSU forced OSU into a shot clock violation with 3:51 left while clinging to a 61-58 lead. Bravard's basket with 2:40 remaining put the Noles up 65-58 and gave the All-America candidate her 11th career 20-point game and third of the season.

A pair of Bravard free throws put the Noles up 67-61 with 2:40 left, but Hill single-handedly brought the Buckeyes back. The junior guard hit back-to-back deep three-pointers to bring the Buckeyes within a point. After Mingo split a pair of free throws, Hill drove the lane for a contested layup to force the extra period.

There were three lead changes and two ties in overtime.

FSU was down just one point when Bravard was tied up by Adams for jump ball with 14 seconds left. The possession arrow gave the Buckeyes the ball and Hill knocked down a pair of free throws after being fouled by Mingo.

Deluzio's three-point attempt with six seconds left ricocheted off an Ohio State player giving FSU one last chance on an out-of-bounds play. Adams intercepted Mingo's pass to end the game.

FSU used a 9-0 spurt to go ahead 11-4 at the 13:42 mark in the first half.

After Ohio State scored six straight to come within a point, Bravard and Deluzio took turns catching fire. The senior post made back-to-back "And-1" layups, and the junior guard from Orlando drilled three consecutive jumpers to put the Noles in front 24-16 with 6:48 remaining in the first half.

Just 12 seconds after Prahalis splashed a three with a hand in her face, Buckeye Amber Stokes stole the ball from Deluzio and made an uncontested layup to put the Buckeyes up 33-31 with a minute left in the first half. Stokes' score capped a 9-2 OSU run to end the half.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  40   8  15    1    5   0   1  17      3    1   4  1   5  4   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  43   2   8    1    3   0   0   5      1    8   9  3   1  3   2   2
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  25   2   7    2    6   0   1   6      0    0   0  1   4  3   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  32   3   7    0    0   2   4   8      4    6  10  4   0  0   0   0
54 Cierra Bravard        f  37   9  22    0    0   9  12  27      5    7  12  3   0  6   1   0
14 Tay'ler Mingo            27   1   4    0    0   4   7   6      1    3   4  3   3  3   0   3
20 Kristi Mokube             2   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   0  0   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            19   2   5    0    0   2   4   6      2    5   7  2   0  3   0   0
   Team                                                           5    1   6                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 225  27  69    4   14  17  29  75     21   32  53 17  13 22   3   5
   Opp                     225  31  82    7   21   9  16  78     22   28  50 19  17 16   5  13


  1 2 OT Total
Florida State
31
38
6
75
Ohio State
33
36
9
78

Florida State 64, UNC-Charlotte 62
12/04/2011, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Seminoles Edge 49ers.

Florida State has five players score in double figures in 64-62 win over Charlotte.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State women's basketball team got back on the winning track on Sunday by holding off Charlotte, 64-62, at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Five Seminoles scored in double figures, including Olivia Bresnahan, who recorded a career-best 10 points off the bench.

In a back-and-forth game that featured 14 lead changes and three ties, Florida State fought back from an eight-point second half deficit to finally capture a close contest and end a three-game losing skid.

Three of FSU's five losses this season have come by three points or less, including Wednesday's 78-75 overtime loss at No. 17 Ohio State.

"It wasn't necessarily the prettiest win but we needed to win one of those close games down the stretch," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "Charlotte played great defense, but we got great looks. We had a lot of layups that we missed. We gave them a ton of second chance shots. It wasn't the best basketball game but we found a way to win."

Florida State's first lead of the second half came when Bresnahan pulled up for a jump shot just inside the foul line to put the Seminoles ahead 57-56 with 5:29 remaining in the game.

Bresnahan missed the Ohio State game after injuring her ankle in shootaround a few hours before the game. Her toughness was a vital part of the Florida State attack on Sunday. In addition to scoring her career-best total, she also pulled down four boards, dished two assists, made both her free throws and helped junior guard Alexa Deluzio harass Charlotte's All-Atlantic 10 guard, Epiphany Woodson, into 3-of-13 shooting.

The Noles and 49ers traded baskets down the stretch, until Bresnahan found sophomore Natasha Howard for a layup with 1:43 remaining to put FSU up 63-62 and keep the host team in front for good.

Still clinging to a one-point lead, Howard ripped down the rebound on a missed jumper by Charlotte's Amanda Dowe with 11 seconds left and was fouled.

Howard missed the front end of her one-and-one free throw attempt, but junior Chasity Clayton emerged with the ball after a five-second skirmish for the rebound and was tied up by a Charlotte player. A jump ball was called, but the Seminoles kept the possession.

Deluzio was fouled after receiving the inbounds pass and split her free throws to put FSU ahead 64-62 with three seconds left.

Florida State had a foul to give and used it, leaving the 49ers with a final inbounds play and two seconds remaining on the clock. Dowe's three-point attempt clanged off the rim, ending the game.

"We've been in a lot of games where we're in that position and it's great to finally overcome it and win one," Bresnahan said. "I think that helps with our confidence a lot. I think we're back on track and ready to go now."

In the first half, Florida State held a 24-15 lead with 7:29 left before the break. FSU went over six minutes without a field goal, though, and the 49ers used a 13-0 run to take a 28-24 lead at the 2:12 mark in the first half.

Charlotte led 30-28 at halftime, and used the inside play of forward Jennifer Hailey to take control early in the second half.

Hailey finished with game highs of 20 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. The 49ers held a 48-45 edge on the boards, but shot just 35.1 percent from the field.

FSU tied a season low by committing just 15 turnovers.

Joining Bresnahan in the double-figure scoring column were Deluzio (14), junior Chelsea Davis (13), senior Cierra Bravard (11) and Howard (11).

Bravard reached double figures for the 30th consecutive game, while Deluzio made the 90th three-pointer of her career, tying her with Jen Robinson for 10th all-time in FSU history.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  38   5  13    1    4   3   5  14      1    2   3  0   2  2   0   1
00 Chasity Clayton       f  21   1   4    1    2   0   0   3      1    5   6  1   1  2   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  18   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      0    2   2  0   3  0   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  25   5  15    0    3   1   2  11      1    6   7  0   2  1   1   0
54 Cierra Bravard        c  26   4   9    0    0   3   7  11      5    4   9  4   0  3   0   1
14 Tay'ler Mingo            23   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      1    3   4  3   4  4   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube             5   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  2   0  1   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         22   4   8    0    0   2   2  10      1    3   4  2   2  1   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            22   6  11    0    0   1   2  13      4    3   7  2   0  1   0   0
   Team                                                           1    2   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  26  62    2    9  10  18  64     15   30  45 14  14 15   1   2
   Opp                     200  26  74    3   11   7  15  62     20   28  48 17  16 11   4   9


  1 2 Total
UNC-Charlotte
30
32
62
Florida State
28
36
64

Florida State 90, Akron 64
12/10/2011, Akron, Ohio

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Double Trouble.

Bravard and Howard both record double-doubles to lead FSU over Akron.

AKRON, OH - Florida State women's basketball players Cierra Bravard and Natasha Howard didn't waste their second opportunity in front of family and friends on Saturday against Akron at the James A. Rhodes Arena.

Ten days after a tough 78-75 overtime loss to No. 17 Ohio State in Columbus, the duo returned to their home state to lead Florida State to a 90-64 win over Akron.

"I know they felt like they had some unfinished business in Ohio," FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. "They came out and did a great job on the other end of what our guards were able to do - which was get them the ball. They finished well and they both went to the board extremely well. It's fun to see them rewarded when they do that."

Howard, a sophomore forward from Toledo, Ohio, erupted for a career-best 24 points and a career-best-tying 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

Bravard, a senior preseason All-American post from Sandusky, Ohio, scored a career-best 28 points and ripped down 12 boards for her second double-double of the 2011-12 campaign. Bravard made 11-of-12 field goals for a ridiculous .916 shooting percentage - the best shooting game of any ACC player this season.

"I didn't look up at the scoreboard to see how many points I had," Bravard said. "I just did what I'm taught to do - which is get deep seals and just play through anything. As the team keeps looking for me then I'm going to make a great play or get to the foul line."

It was reserve forward Chelsea Davis that broke the game open for the Seminoles in the second half.

Eight consecutive points by the junior lifted the Seminoles to a 58-45 lead with 13 minutes left in the second half.

Howard's three-point play after getting fouled on a fastbreak layup stretched the Garnet and Gold advantage to 61-45.

A few moments later junior guard Leo Rodriguez buried a three to put the Noles up, 66-47, with 10 minutes left, and the rout was on.

Akron jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the game's first minute-and-half. Bravard kept the Noles in the game early, scoring 10 points and grabbing five boards in the game's first 12 minutes before sitting the final eight minutes of the first half with two fouls.

Akron stayed in front until junior Alexa Deluzio pulled up for a three to tie the game at 25-25 at the 10:20 mark in the first half.

Sophomore Olivia Bresnahan's free throws with 9:52 remaining before the break gave the Seminoles their first lead, 27-25.

Bresnahan finished with a career-best six assists, while Davis scored 13 points - all in the second half.

FSU had a season-high with 23 assists and committed a season-low 14 turnovers. FSU shot 61.9 percent in the second half en route to a season-high 52.9 field goal shooting percentage.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  29   3   8    1    2   0   0   7      0    1   1  0   2  1   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  23   4   6    1    2   0   0   9      0    3   3  4   4  2   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  16   1   2    1    1   0   0   3      0    0   0  0   1  1   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  32   9  16    0    0   6   8  24      5    8  13  2   3  2   3   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  26  11  12    0    0   6   8  28      2   10  12  3   1  1   0   0
14 Tay'ler Mingo            32   2   3    0    0   0   0   4      1    1   2  4   5  2   0   3
20 Kristi Mokube             3   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  3   0  1   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         29   0   4    0    1   2   4   2      1    6   7  3   6  4   1   1
34 Chelsea Davis            10   4  11    0    0   5   7  13      2    0   2  0   1  0   1   1
   Team                                                           1    2   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  34  62    3    6  19  27  90     12   32  44 19  23 14   6   7
   Opp                     200  21  67    5   22  17  21  64     15   20  35 17  13 15   3   6


  1 2 Total
Florida State
36
54
90
Akron
33
31
64

Florida State 86, Alabama A&M 41
12/19/2011, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Block Party.

Florida State's school record 15 blocks paved the way for an 86-41 victory on Monday.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Pumped up by a season-high crowd of 4,499, including over 2,000 elementary students, the Florida State women's basketball team set a new school record for blocked shots en route to a dominating 86-41 victory over Alabama A&M on Monday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The local children, at the game as part of the Seminoles' annual "Day of Class with the Noles" event, made their presence known from the start with chants of "Defense! Defense!" FSU listened and never let off the gas on the defensive side of the ball, blocking 15 Alabama A&M shots to break a 33-year-old school record.

"The crowd was awesome," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "The chants were as efficient as our basketball game. They were together. They were really into the game. It was a great educational experience for them and a fun environment for us to play in."

Florida State sent Alabama A&M to the line just once the entire game and won its third consecutive game to improve to 6-5.

Senior post Cierra Bravard and sophomore forward Natasha Howard led the "block party" with four swats apiece, while junior guard Alexa Deluzio recorded three blocks and freshman Kristi Mokube put away a pair of AAU shot attempts, as the Seminoles showed no rust after nine days off and last week's final exams.

Howard's and Mokube's blocks marks were new career bests, while Deluzio tied her career high.

"I think the big thing was that we were able to block those shots without fouling," Semrau said. "To be a presence down low and put our hands on the ball was a big step for us."

FSU's previous school record came when the Noles blocked 12 shots against Mercer on Nov. 17, 1978. The Garnet & Gold's 15-block performance is also the most by an ACC team in 2011-12.

A Toledo, Ohio, native Howard had a spectacular all-around game, scoring 17 points, grabbing 11 boards and recording three steals to go along with her four blocks. It's her fourth double-double this season and second straight. The 6-3 forward also showed off her versatility by leading the fastbreak a number of times.

Deluzio added 17 points, while Bravard scored 14 - her 32nd straight game reaching double figures.

Reserve posts, Chelsea Davis (13 points) and Kristi Mokube (10 points) also scored in double digits, as FSU shot a season-high 56.3 percent from the floor. Mokube made 5 of 7 shots en route to career-highs in scoring and minutes (13).

Florida State jumped out to a 9-0 lead and swatted away Alabama A&M's first three shot attempts to start the contest and set a tone through the game.

The Seminoles led 21-3 after Bravard completed a three-point play at the 14:39 mark in the first half.

FSU's defense was so stout that the Lady Bulldogs didn't make a two-point basket until Whiquitta Tobar hit a jumper with 9:06 remaining before the break to make the score 30-14.

Tobar, who entered the game ranked 13th in the nation in scoring 20.6 ppg, scored 19 points on 8-of-22 shooting. The rest of the Lady Bulldogs shot 9-of-50 from the field. FSU held AAU to 23.6 percent field goal shooting - an opponent season low.

Florida State extended its lead to 30, 62-32, on a layup by Deluzio seven minutes into the second half. It was over seven minutes after the intermission that a Lady Bulldog other than Tobar scored.

"It's been awhile since we put a team away and I think we are starting to get that feeling back of what it feels like to be the team that we know we can be," said Bravard, who moved into 10th place in FSU history in rebounds on Monday. "This will give us some momentum going into our game on Thursday against Vanderbilt."

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  33   6  11    2    6   3   3  17      1    4   5  0   3  0   3   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  28   4   8    0    4   0   2   8      1    4   5  1   0  3   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  23   1   1    0    0   0   1   2      0    0   0  0   2  0   1   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  32   6   9    0    0   5   6  17      2    9  11  1   0  2   4   3
54 Cierra Bravard        f  24   6  12    0    0   2   2  14      0    6   6  3   4  1   4   0
14 Tay'ler Mingo            16   0   1    0    0   1   2   1      0    0   0  3   3  1   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube            13   5   7    0    0   0   0  10      2    5   7  1   0  4   2   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         20   2   5    0    0   0   0   4      0    3   3  3   2  1   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            11   6  10    0    0   1   2  13      4    1   5  0   1  0   1   0
   Team                                                           1    7   8                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  36  64    2   10  12  18  86     11   39  50 12  15 12  15   4
   Opp                     200  17  72    6   21   1   1  41     16   20  36 17   3 15   8   2


  1 2 Total
Alabama A&M
26
15
41
Florida State
46
40
86

Vanderbilt 64, Florida State 59
12/22/2011, Nashville, Tenn.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Florida State Edged By Vanderbilt.

Chasity Clayton has 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Seminoles.

NASHVILLE, TN - Florida State junior Chasity Clayton hit a corner three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to bring the Seminoles within 3, but No. 23/25-ranked Vanderbilt held on for a 64-59 win at Memorial Gym on Thursday night.

FSU held Vanderbilt, the nation's second-best shooting team, to its worst field goal percentage of the season - 40.8 percent.

Clayton finished with her first double-double of the season, 15 points and 11 boards, while junior Chelsea Davis scored 16 points off the bench. Junior guard Alexa Deluzio added 15 points.

FSU trailed by 13 points with six minutes to go, but battled back to come within three after Clayton's three-ball.

"I told our team the team that the team that played in spurts was going to lose and the team that played for 40 minutes was going to win the game," FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. "We played some small ball at the end of the game and we made a run, but it wasn't enough."

Vanderbilt was led by Stephanie Holzer, who scored 17 points and grabbed 13 boards, and Christina Foggie, who finished with a game-high 18.

Foggie drilled a trey with 6:22 left in the game to push Vanderbilt's lead to 52-39, but FSU climbed back.

A personal 6-0 run from Davis brought the Noles within 7, 56-49, with 3:58 to play. After Davis hit four straight free throws, Tay'ler Mingo stole the ball and found Davis for a layup.

Deluzio stole the ball from Elan Brown and made a layup to make the score 58-52 with 1:52 left.

Two buckets by Davis in the final minute made the score 61-56.

After Clayton's three, Holzer was fouled and drilled both free throws to clinch the game.

FSU senior Cierra Bravard was held to a season-low four points and battled foul trouble, playing just 21 minutes. It was the first time in 32 games and over a year that the 6-4 post was held below 10 points.

Florida State missed its first four shots and didn't get on the scoreboard until Davis drilled a turnaround layup off the block at the 15:04 mark in the first half.

Despite going scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of contest, FSU stayed right in the game by holding the Commodores to just one field goal in their first 14 attempts.

Vanderbilt jumped out to a 31-22 lead three minutes into the second half when Kady Schrann connected on a fastbreak layup while getting fouled by Bravard. Jasmine Lister sparked a 6-0 run to give Vanderbilt a 44-31 advantage, though. The 5-4 floor general scored back-to-back buckets before finding Holzer for a post score at the 9:40 mark after the break.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  37   5  11    2    6   3   4  15      0    4   4  0   1  4   0   1
00 Chasity Clayton       f  32   6  14    2    6   1   1  15      2    9  11  3   0  3   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  27   1   3    1    3   0   0   3      0    1   1  2   2  3   0   2
33 Natasha Howard        f  21   1   6    0    1   2   2   4      1    4   5  4   0  2   1   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  21   1   4    0    0   2   3   4      1    2   3  4   1  5   1   1
14 Tay'ler Mingo            17   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      0    1   1  1   4  2   0   2
20 Kristi Mokube             0   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  2   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         21   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  1   1  1   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            24   5   8    0    0   6   6  16      1    4   5  2   2  4   1   1
   Team                                                           4    1   5                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  20  49    5   16  14  16  59      9   26  35 19  11 24   3   9
   Opp                     200  24  63    2    7  14  23  64     19   21  40 16  11 17   2   9


  1 2 Total
Florida State
22
37
59
Vanderbilt
27
37
64

Florida State 92, Yale 58
12/28/2011, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Races Past Yale.

The Seminoles shot 72 percent in the second half.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Sparked by a 20-point performance from Alexa Deluzio and the first career double-double from Chelsea Davis, the Florida State women's basketball team raced past Yale, 92-58, on Wednesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Seminoles enacted revenge on the Bulldogs, who upset them, 91-85, in New Haven, Conn., in their matchup last season.

This year's meeting was never close, as FSU jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the game's first nine-and-a-half minutes. Yale tried to push the pace and stifle Deluzio by hounding her with ball pressure the entire length of the court, but the junior guard sliced and diced her way through the Bulldogs to tie her season-high with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while also dishing five assists.

FSU shot a season-best 62.3 percent from the floor and outscored the Bulldogs, 60-8, in the paint, as Davis led the way in the post for the Noles in her first career start, totaling 12 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.

"Alexa Deluzio had a great all-around game and Chelsea Davis was fantastic in getting a double-double," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "It felt good to be back in the Donald L. Tucker Center and its great to get a win coming out of our short break."

Deluzio blew past Yale's star guard Megan Vasquez countless times for layups in the first half as she scored 15 points before the break.

Deluzio also had her hand in a superb defensive effort by the Noles, holding the Bulldogs to just 25.8 percent shooting and Vasquez, a First Team All-Ivy League selection and Yale's leading scorer (15.2 ppg), to zero points on 0-of-6 shooting.

The only Yale player to do any real damage on the offensive end was Janna Graff, who scored 18 points and made 5-of-7 three point attempts.

Graf scored Yale's first nine points - all on treys, and the Seminoles held the Bulldogs without a two-point field goal until the 9:11 mark of the first half when Hayden Latham drilled a bucket to make the score 26-11.

The Florida State lead swelled to 38-13 when senior post Cierra Bravard was fouled making a layup and knocked down the free throw.

FSU's 49 points at the half were its most this season before the break, but the Seminoles didn't slow down after the break. Florida State shot a ridiculous 72 percent (18-of-25) in the second half en route to its second straight blowout victory at home. The Noles defeated Alabama A&M, 86-41, on Dec. 19.

Junior Leo Rodriguez was the catalyst of the second half, dishing five or her seven assists after the break. She finished with a season-best seven points in a career-best 30 minutes of action.

Rodriguez pushed the Noles in transition in the second half and found sophomore forward Natasha Howard twice for easy layups in the first five minutes of the final frame, as FSU built a 61-28 lead.

Howard finished with 15 points and seven boards, while Bravard tallied 14 points and seven boards and junior forward Chasity Clayton scored 14 points and grabbed seven boards.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  33   8   9    2    3   2   3  20      0    3   3  1   5  3   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  31   6  11    2    5   0   0  14      0    7   7  4   3  0   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  30   2   4    0    1   3   3   7      0    4   4  0   7  3   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  22   7  12    0    0   1   2  15      4    3   7  5   1  4   1   1
34 Chelsea Davis         f  24   5   9    0    0   2   3  12      3    8  11  1   2  2   0   2
20 Kristi Mokube            10   2   2    0    0   0   0   4      1    5   6  4   0  3   0   1
22 Olivia Bresnahan         28   2   6    0    0   2   2   6      0    1   1  0   3  2   0   1
54 Cierra Bravard           22   6   8    0    0   2   2  14      3    4   7  4   1  2   1   0
   Team                                                                3   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  38  61    4    9  12  15  92     11   38  49 19  22 19   2   7
   Opp                     200  17  66    8   29  16  24  58     15   14  29 14   7 14   2   8


  1 2 Total
Yale
24
34
58
Florida State
49
43
92

Florida State 60, Central Florida 47
12/30/2011, Orlando, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Defensive Dominance.

FSU defeated UCF, 60-47, on Friday behind Howard's fifth double-double of the season.

ORLANDO, FL - The Florida State women's basketball team applied the pressure on Friday night at UCF Arena, and the Knights couldn't handle it.

The Seminoles opened the contest in a full-court man-to-man defensive set and raced out to an 11-1 lead en route to a 60-47 victory over UCF in their final non-conference game of the 2011-12 season.

Florida State begins ACC play on Monday when it hosts No. 5 Maryland at 7 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee.

The Seminoles improved to 8-6 on the season, while the Knights dropped to 5-7.

"It wasn't the prettiest game, but I thought we came out and stuck to our gameplan," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "We made them shoot hard shots, but we could've rebounded better. Natasha (Howard) was great tonight. She gives us a consistent double-double. I can't say enough about her and her effort."

Howard, a sophomore forward, led the Garnet and Gold effort with her fifth double-double of the season (18 points and 10 rebounds), while junior guard Leo Rodriguez tied her career high with 11 points.

"Leo has been a constant for us," Semrau said. "She had seven assists on Wednesday and then came out tonight and hit some buckets for us. She continues to improve."

Behind its stifling pressure, Florida State held the Knights to just 15 points and 15.6 percent (5-of-32) shooting in the first half.

It took UCF over six minutes and 10 attempts to make a field goal. Reserve forward Sarah Green's putback ended the drought for the host Knights and made the score 11-3 with 13:46 remaining in the first half.

Howard's full-court-pressure-induced steal and finger-roll layup made the score 22-7 12 minutes into the game. Her 18-foot jumper moments later extended FSU's lead to 24-7 and gave FSU 10 consecutive points.

Altogether the Seminoles would score 14 consecutive points while holding the Knights scoreless for 7-and-a-half minutes during the first half. After Andrea Hines' jumper at the 12:24 mark in the first half, UCF didn't score a point until Aisha Patrick's layup with 4:54 remaining before the break.

The Seminoles continued to stifle the UCF offense at the start of the second half, holding the Knights without a field goal for the first five minutes after halftime and to just one made basket in their first 10 tries of the final frame. The Knights' first bucket following the break came on a jumper by Ashia Kelly with 14:45 remaining in the contest and made the score 34-20.

Rodriguez's second trey of the game extended the FSU lead to 37-20 with 13:40 remaining in the contest.

The Knights made a late run and cut FSU's lead to 10 points when Andrea Hines hit a three-pointer with 1:33 remaining in the game, but UCF didn't make another field goal until Hines hit a shot with 27 seconds left and the Seminoles leading 57-44.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  34   4   9    2    5   4   6  14      3    2   5  2   4  1   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  28   1  11    0    6   0   0   2      1    6   7  0   1  3   0   2
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  37   4   8    2    6   1   2  11      0    4   4  1   3  2   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  25   7  14    0    0   6   8  20      3    7  10  4   1  0   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis         f  19   2   4    0    0   1   3   5      0    5   5  4   0  3   1   0
20 Kristi Mokube             8   0   1    0    0   0   2   0      2    1   3  2   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         26   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      0    2   2  2   1  2   0   1
54 Cierra Bravard           23   2   4    0    0   4   5   8      1    3   4  3   3  4   2   0
   Team                                                           1    2   3                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  20  53    4   17  16  26  60     11   32  43 18  13 15   3   5
   Opp                     200  15  64    3   15  14  20  47     19   29  48 24   6 17   2   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
28
32
60
Central Florida
15
32
47

Maryland 91, Florida State 70
01/02/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Deluzio's 23 Not Enough.

Junior guard Alexa Deluzio matched her career high in points, but FSU fell to No. 5 Maryland, 91-70.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Junior guard Alexa Deluzio's career-best-matching 23 points weren't enough for the Florida State women's basketball team on Monday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center versus No. 5 Maryland. The Seminoles fell to the Terrapins, 91-70, in the ACC opener for both teams.

Maryland (14-0), who leads the country in rebounding margin, held a commanding 53-40 edge on the boards and had three players score at least 20 points, led by sophomore guard Laurin Mincy's 23.

"It's important for our team to come back with heart," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "They completely out-muscled us tonight with 25 offensive boards. We just weren't up for the challenge."

Deluzio also matched her career-best with four treys and kept the Seminoles (8-7) in the game early.

The 5-11 Orlando, Fla., native started the contest playing lights out basketball, scoring eight points and drilling her first two three-point attempts in the first nine minutes.

"I never question Alexa's heart," Semrau said. "She's somebody that gives us everything she has every single night."

Deluzio finished with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-10 from three. She added six boards, two assists and made all five of her free throw attempts.

Her first trey sparked a 10-0 run for the Seminoles and her second three capped the spurt, as FSU took a 17-15 lead with 12:01 remaining in the first half.

Deluzio's layup a minute later gave the Garnet and Gold a 19-18 advantage, but Maryland answered back with a 10-0 run of its own and never looked back.

Mincy's three with nine minutes left in the first half put the Terrapins up, 28-19. Junior forward Tianna Hawkins, who finished with 20 points and 13 boards, made a pair of layups in the final 50 seconds of the first half to give Maryland a 48-36 lead at the break.

The Terps opened up the second half with an 11-3 run to take a 59-39 lead with 17:39 remaining after sophomore forward Alyssa Thomas drilled a pair of free throws.

FSU cut the Maryland lead down to 13, 59-46, when junior guard Leo Rodriguez swished a trey four minutes into the final frame. However, Maryland countered by scoring nine consecutive points to hold off the Seminoles' threat.

Thomas also tallied a double-double for the Terps, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Senior post Cierra Bravard (14 points), junior wing Chasity Clayton (13) and junior forward Chelsea Davis (11) joined Deluzio in double figures for FSU.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  38   7  15    4   10   5   5  23      2    4   6  2   2  2   0   1
00 Chasity Clayton       g  22   5  13    2    6   1   2  13      3    1   4  0   2  1   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  32   2   3    1    2   0   0   5      0    4   4  1   1  5   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  24   2   9    0    3   0   0   4      2    6   8  5   2  5   2   1
54 Cierra Bravard        f  28   6  13    0    0   2   4  14      1    4   5  2   2  3   0   2
20 Kristi Mokube             6   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      1    2   3  2   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         26   0   3    0    0   0   0   0      2    1   3  0   3  2   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            24   5  10    0    0   1   1  11      2    0   2  3   0  2   0   0
   Team                                                           2    3   5                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  27  67    7   21   9  12  70     15   25  40 15  12 20   2   5
   Opp                     200  37  83    6   14  11  17  91     25   28  53 14  13 14   6  10


  1 2 Total
Maryland
48
43
91
Florida State
36
34
70

Florida State 59, Clemson 47
01/05/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Edges Clemson.

The Seminoles have won seven straight against the Tigers.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State women's basketball team extended its win streak against Clemson to seven straight games on Thursday night, defeating the Tigers, 59-47, at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Seminoles have won 18 of the last 19 meetings versus Clemson, but the latest victory wasn't easy.

FSU shot just 36.8 percent from the field and committed 23 turnovers, but held the Tigers to 33.8 percent shooting and captured a 48-40 edge on the glass.

"I was proud of the team and the way they bounced back against a really tough loss (on Monday to No. 5 Maryland)," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "It wasn't pretty but it was a win and they played hard. We just have to continue to do a better job of taking care of the ball. I think when Alexa (Deluzio) and Chasity (Clayton) are penetrating the ball we get a lot better looks and that's what we need to continue to do."

Deluzio, a junior guard, scored 16 points and dished five assists, while Clayton, a junior wing, grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

Senior center Cierra Bravard also scored 16, while junior reserve forward Chelsea Davis chipped in with 10 points.

Clemson led 10-6 early, before the Seminole defense put the clamps on the Tigers' offensive attack.

FSU held Clemson scoreless for 6 minutes and 20 seconds and scored 15 consecutive points to take control of the game and gain a commanding 21-10 advantage midway through the first half. Bravard started the spurt by draining a free throw and Clayton capped it with a corner three-pointer.

Despite holding Clemson to 27 percent shooting in the first half, the Seminoles led by just nine points at the break (30-21) thanks in part due to poor free throw shooting. The Noles made just five of 14 charity stripe attempts before halftime. Florida State improved in the second half, however, making seven of 11 attempts.

The Tigers refused to be blown out in the second half and cut FSU's lead to as little as six points with 10 minutes remaining on an elbow jumper by Lindsey Mason, who led Clemson with 14 points.

"Give credit to them; they did what they needed to do to stay in the game," Deluzio said. "I don't think we were as aggressive as we needed to be and I thought in the second half we did a lot better job of that."

It was Deluzio, the Noles' captain, who put the final dagger into Clemson. She buried a three from the top of the key with 40 seconds left to give FSU a 59-47 lead - the final margin.

Five minutes earlier, Deluzio staved off a Clemson rally by calmly drilling a pair of free throws to put FSU up by nine points following a technical foul on Clemson's Nikki Dixon. She was whistled for the foul after tangling with FSU sophomore guard Olivia Bresnahan for a loose ball with 5:50 left in the game.

The Seminoles moved to 9-7 on the season and 1-1 in the ACC, while the Tigers dropped to 4-9 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  36   5  12    3    6   3   4  16      2    3   5  1   5  2   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  33   2  13    1    6   0   0   5      4    6  10  2   0  4   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  29   3   4    1    2   0   0   7      0    2   2  0   2  4   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  23   2   8    0    0   1   3   5      5    4   9  2   1  2   0   1
54 Cierra Bravard        f  31   5  13    0    0   6  13  16      5    3   8  2   1  7   1   0
20 Kristi Mokube             3   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  1   1   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         25   0   1    0    0   0   1   0      2    6   8  0   4  1   1   4
34 Chelsea Davis            20   4   6    0    0   2   4  10      2    0   2  2   1  2   2   0
   Team                                                           1    3   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  21  57    5   14  12  25  59     21   27  48  9  14 23   6   5
   Opp                     200  22  65    0    9   3   6  47     17   23  40 18  10 19   2  10


  1 2 Total
Clemson
21
26
47
Florida State
30
29
59

Florida State 75, Virginia Tech 40
01/08/2012, Blacksburg, Va.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Fast Start.

Florida State used a 30-4 start to race past Virginia Tech on Sunday.

BLACKSBURG, VA - Virginia Tech came onto the court amidst a cloud of smoke on Sunday at the Cassell Coliseum, but the Florida State women's basketball team was the squad that came out on fire.

Sophomore forward Natasha Howard scored a dozen points in the first 10 minutes, and the Seminoles jumped out to a 30-4 lead en route to a dominating 75-40 win over the Hokies.

The Hokies burst onto the coliseum floor amidst some introductory smoke right before the game started, but came out flat.

Virginia Tech came into the game riding its first-ever 2-0 start in the ACC and had held its first two conference opponents to 35 points or under.

The Seminoles exceeded that point total in the first half, taking a 39-14 lead into the break.

FSU shot 57.1 percent from the field and held a 23-8 advantage on the boards in the first frame.

Five Seminoles scored in double figures, led by Howard's 16 points. Florida State's final rebounding margin was 45-19.

"Defensively, we were able to force some tough shots and we really rebounded the ball well," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "Rebounding had been a challenge for us. We hadn't been rebounding well and that was an emphasis for us coming into today's game. We forced some tough shots.

"Each player was focused on what they brought to the table. Today was quite a turnaround from who we've been lately."

The Seminoles jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes and built a 10-1 edge in rebounding by the first media timeout.

FSU stretched the lead to 11-2 six minutes into the game on a three-point swish from the top of the key by junior guard Alexa Deluzio. Less than a minute later, sophomore reserve forward Olivia Bresnahan made a layup to make the score 14-2.

Virginia Tech's second basket came on a layup by Latorri Hines-Allen at the 12-minute mark in the first half. The Hokies didn't score again until Hines-Allen made her second bucket with 5:14 left in the half, as FSU scored 16 consecutive points.

Howard started the run with three straight baskets and Clayton capped the game-changing spurt with a baseline layup six minutes before the break to put FSU ahead, 30-4.

Bravard scored all of her 12 points after halftime and finished with 11 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season and 15th of her career.

The Seminoles forced Virginia Tech into four shot clock violations throughout the duration of the game in one of the most dominating defensive efforts of the season.

The win over the Hokies continued the Seminoles' outstanding recent success on the road in conference games. Florida State is now 19-3 in ACC away games since the 2008-09 season.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  31   5   8    1    4   2   2  13      0    2   2  1   2  3   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  33   6   8    0    0   0   0  12      2    6   8  3   1  3   1   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  26   1   2    1    1   2   2   5      0    1   1  1   1  3   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  31   7  16    0    0   2   3  16      4    4   8  1   2  3   2   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  21   2  10    0    0   8   8  12      2    9  11  3   0  6   1   1
20 Kristi Mokube             9   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      2    1   3  3   0  3   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         27   2   3    0    0   1   2   5      1    1   2  1   3  1   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            22   4   5    0    0   4   4  12      1    1   2  2   1  1   0   0
   Team                                                           4    4   8                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  27  54    2    5  19  21  75     16   29  45 15  10 23   4   6
   Opp                     200  17  53    1   11   5  11  40      8   11  19 19  11 19   5   6


  1 2 Total
Florida State
39
36
75
Virginia Tech
14
26
40

Duke 73, Florida State 66
01/13/2012, Durham, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Gutsy Noles Fall at Duke.

FSU shot 51.9 percent from the floor and had four players in double figures.

DURHAM, NC - The Florida State women's basketball team gave No. 7/6 Duke all it could handle on Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

FSU shot 51.9 percent from the field - the best of any opponent against the Blue Devils this season, but Duke hung on for a hard fought 73-66 victory in part by scoring 26 points off of 25 Garnet and Gold turnovers.

It was a gutsy performance from the Noles, who had only seven players log court action.

"That was a heck of a game," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "We had too many turnovers tonight, and that's something we've wrestled with all season. This team has come a long way, though. Duke hit some big shots early and did a good job of finding Elizabeth Williams in the post.

"I thought our effort was great, and our players really did some things to grow up tonight."

The Seminoles dropped to 10-8 on the season and 2-2 in the ACC, while Duke improved to 13-2 and 4-0 in the conference.

FSU made six of its first eight shot attempts and connected on 50 percent (13-of-26) in the first half. The Noles also held Duke to just 38.2 percent shooting in the first half, but committed 16 turnovers, which the Blue Devils converted into 15 points and helped them take a 35-29 lead into the break.

Duke guard Tricia Liston scored eight points before the second media timeout in the first half and her three-pointer at the 12-minute mark put the Blue Devils ahead 15-10. Alexa Deluzio answered right back for the Seminoles 10 seconds later with a three of her own to close the FSU deficit to two.

FSU stayed right with Duke until the end of the half. Sophomore Natasha Howard's leaner 40 seconds before halftime brought FSU within a basket, but Duke closed the frame with consecutive buckets, including a buzzer-beating layup by Liston.

After Chelsea Gray scored a quick bucket to start the second half and extend the host's lead to 8, FSU scored seven consecutive points. A corner three by Chasity Clayton followed a pair of Cierra Bravard free throws and the senior center muscled in jump shot to make the score 37-36 with 18 minutes remaining in the contest.

FSU would never take the lead in the second half, however, despite keeping the game close.

Liston buried a three-pointer with just under eight minutes left to give Duke a 60-51 advantage. Moments later Williams notched her first block, swatting a Bravard attempt out of bounds.

With 4:44 remaining, Gray corralled a steal and made an uncontested layup to give Duke a 68-55 lead.

Four Seminoles scored in double figures, led by Howard's 17 points. Bravard (16), Clayton (15) and junior forward Chelsea Davis (10) also had solid offensive games.

For Duke, Liston led the way with 20 points, while Williams tallied 18.

The Seminoles matched the Blue Devils, 34-34, on the boards.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  36   1   8    1    4   1   2   4      0    3   3  1   1  3   0   2
00 Chasity Clayton       f  34   7  15    1    5   0   0  15      3    4   7  2   3  3   0   2
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  31   2   3    0    0   0   0   4      0    3   3  2   4  4   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  36   8  13    0    0   1   1  17      2    4   6  3   3  6   2   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  24   7  10    0    0   2   3  16      1    3   4  3   1  2   1   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         18   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  2   1  5   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            21   3   5    0    0   4   4  10      1    1   2  1   0  2   0   2
   Team                                                           4    4   8                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  28  54    2    9   8  10  66     11   23  34 14  13 25   3  10
   Opp                     200  31  68    5   14   6  10  73     17   17  34 10  17 15   1  13


  1 2 Total
Florida State
29
37
66
Duke
35
38
73

Miami 60, Florida State 57
01/15/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Florida State Edged Out By No. 13 Miami, 60-57.

Natasha Howard leads with 22 points, has career-high 17 rebounds.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Down by 19 points a minute into the second half, the Florida State women's basketball team could've folded against No. 13/11 Miami on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Instead, led by sophomore forward Natasha Howard (22 points, career-best 17 rebounds), the Seminoles fought their way back to tie the game with 37 seconds left, before the Hurricanes ultimately escaped with a 60-57 victory.

Miami junior guard Stefanie Yderstrom nailed a game-winning corner three to break the tie with 17 seconds remaining in the game.

Despite the loss, Florida State head coach Sue Semrau was proud of her squad, who went toe-to-toe with two of the nation's top teams in a three-day span this weekend. FSU narrowly fell to No. 7/6 Duke on Friday night in Durham, N.C.

"What a game," Semrau said. "I love the fight of our team. I hope that after this we play more grown up in the first half. You certainly can't fault the adjustments these guys made in the second half. Natasha was unbelievable. Seventeen rebounds hasn't been done against a top-ranked team in years here. She was absolutely tremendous as well as a lot of the players on the team."

Florida State found itself down 41-22 when Miami senior guard and reigning ACC Player of the Year Shenise Johnson (24 points) buried a trey with 18:59 remaining in the game.

The Seminoles chipped away at the lead until clamping down defensively the final eight minutes of the game.

After Johnson made a fastbreak layup with 8:33 left to make the score 55-42, the Hurricanes missed their next 10 field goal attempts. Miami did not make another basket until Yderstrom's game-winner - a span of 8:16.

Howard, a 6-3 combo forward, was the catalyst. She tallied her sixth double-double of the season and became the third Seminole to grab 17 rebounds against a Top 25 opponent in the last 20 years. Jacinta Monroe accomplished the feat versus No. 15 North Carolina on Feb. 1, 2010 and Ursula Woods tallied 18 boards versus No. 3 Maryland on Jan. 12, 1993.

"We came out with energy and passion and we knew we could come out in the second half and just dominate Miami," Howard said. "We fought until the end and we didn't give up at all, that's the best thing - we didn't give up at the end."

Howard scored eight points in FSU's 15-2 down the stretch that ended when senior post Cierra Bravard split a pair of free throws, making the second, to tie the game at 57-57 with 37 second left.

After Yderstrom's three, FSU had two looks at the rim. Junior wing Chasity Clayton's jumper with six seconds left was short, but Rodriguez snagged the rebound and stepped back for a trey attempt with three seconds left. Williams was there to just barely block the shot and secure the Miami victory.

FSU shot 54.5 percent in the second half after shooting just 34.5 percent in the first half and finding itself down, 35-20, at the break.

Johnson, who surpassed the 2,000-point plateau in the game, sparked a game-breaking 13-4 Miami run with a three-pointer 11 minutes into the first half. She added two other baskets, including a jumper that capped the spurt and gave the Hurricanes a commanding 30-16 lead with 4:44 left in the first half.

Bravard finished with 10 points and eight boards, while Clayton scored 12.

Miami's Morgan Stroman and Williams each finished with 11.

FSU outrebounded Miami, 39-32, and held the high-powered Hurricanes' No. 5 ranked offense to just 27.2 percent shooting in the second half.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  35   1   6    1    2   2   2   5      1    2   3  3   1  2   1   1
00 Chasity Clayton       f  37   6  13    0    2   0   0  12      0    2   2  1   2  3   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  30   3   4    0    1   0   0   6      1    1   2  0   1  2   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  37   8  16    0    0   6   7  22      7   10  17  2   0  4   1   1
54 Cierra Bravard        f  33   3  10    0    0   4   6  10      2    6   8  3   2  5   1   0
20 Kristi Mokube             0   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         19   0   0    0    0   0   2   0      0    1   1  1   1  4   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis             9   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      1    1   2  3   0  2   0   1
   Team                                                           1    3   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  22  51    1    5  12  17  57     13   26  39 13   7 22   3   3
   Opp                     200  23  63    8   22   6   8  60     14   18  32 16  14 16   3   7


  1 2 Total
Miami
35
25
60
Florida State
20
37
57

Florida State 68, Boston College 59
01/19/2012, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Deluzio Carries FSU Past BC.

Alexa Deluzio exploded for a career-high 28 points to lead FSU past Boston College, 68-59, on Thursday.

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Junior guard Alexa Deluzio caught fire on Thursday night at the Silvio Conte Forum and there were no Boston College defenders able to put her out.

The Seminoles' 5-11 captain scored a career-high 28 points and made six treys to lead the Seminole women's basketball team past a scrappy Boston College team, 68-59.

"She's a tremendous player," FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. "She's doing so much for our team right now. She can score, she can penetrate and she can pass. She guarded (BC's Kerri) Shields the whole game and held her in check tonight, too."

Deluzio, who had shot just 2-of-14 the past two games, drilled 6-of-8 from downtown - one off of the FSU record and a career-best total, and connected on 9-of-14 shots overall.

When Boston College closed FSU's lead to 2 with 7:38 remaining, it was Deluzio who halted the rally with a layup. Her trey less than two minutes later pushed the Nole advantage to 58-51 and her back-breaking three with four minutes left gave Florida State its biggest lead of the night, 66-55.

FSU improved to 11-9 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, while Boston College dropped to 5-13 overall and 0-5 in the conference.

"I thought Boston College shot the ball well and we had to answer," Semrau said. "They rebounded well, and we had to make a conscious effort to keep them off the offensive glass in the second half."

The Eagles jumped out to a 7-1 edge on the boards in the first five minutes of the game, but the Noles outrebounded BC, 34-21, the rest of the game and held the Eagles to just 39.3 percent shooting.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle featuring six ties and seven lead changes.

Junior Leo Rodriguez found senior Cierra Bravard for a layup with six minutes left in the first half to put FSU in front, 26-21, but Boston College guard Tessa Holt hit back-to-back treys, and Kristen Doherty followed with a three-pointer herself to give the Eagles a 32-31 lead with two minutes remaining in the half.

Florida State closed the first frame with a three-point play from Bravard and also forced the Eagles into a shot clock violation to head into the second half clinging to a 34-32 lead.

The Seminoles opened the second half with a fade-away two-point bucket five seconds in from - who else - Deluzio.

FSU stretched the lead to 48-40 10 minutes into the final frame on a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Natasha Howard, who scored 12 points and grabbed 12 boards for her seventh double-double of the season.

Boston College was led by Doherty (17 points) and Holt (16).

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  38   9  14    6    9   4   4  28      0    1   1  0   1  0   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  31   0   2    0    1   0   0   0      2    2   4  1   4  4   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  34   2   4    1    2   0   0   5      1    7   8  0   4  1   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  34   4   8    0    0   4   6  12      5    7  12  1   0  1   0   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  32   4   8    0    0   4   7  12      2    4   6  2   3  4   2   0
20 Kristi Mokube             0   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         17   1   4    0    0   0   0   2      0    0   0  0   3  2   0   2
34 Chelsea Davis            14   4   7    0    0   1   2   9      0    3   3  2   0  3   1   0
   Team                                                           1        1                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  47    7   12  13  19  68     11   24  35  6  15 15   3   4
   Opp                     200  24  61    7   23   4   4  59     13   15  28 17  17 10   1   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
34
34
68
Boston College
32
27
59

Georgia Tech 79, Florida State 55
01/22/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Falls to Georgia Tech.

The Seminoles dropped to 11-10 overall and 3-4 in the ACC.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State women's basketball team fell to Georgia Tech, 79-55, on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Three Seminoles reached double figures in scoring, led by sophomore Natasha Howard's 13 points, but FSU committed 24 turnovers and allowed the Yellow Jackets to shoot 54.7 percent from the floor.

"Georgia Tech pressured us from the start and we didn't handle that pressure well," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "You give up 32 points off of turnovers and you will lose basketball games that way. I was really disappointed in that part of our game.

"We had a game plan where we were going to play off of a couple of their players and they stepped up and hit some big shots early."

The Yellow Jackets (14-6 overall and 4-3 in the ACC) were led by sophomore guard Tyaunna Marshall, who scored 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting, and senior center Sasha Goodlett, who tallied 15 points and seven boards.

Georgia Tech shot 60.6 percent in the first half and held a 15-point lead at the break.

FSU sophomore guard Olivia Bresnahan's three-point play with 3:20 left in the first half cut Georgia Tech's lead to 33-26, but Mo Bennett answered with a three-pointer that propelled the Yellow Jackets on a 12-2 run to close the first stanza.

With 32 seconds remaining before the break, Goodlett spun on the block and was fouled while making a layup. Her free throw put the Yellow Jackets up, 43-28. She also made a jumper right before the halftime buzzer.

Georgia Tech stretched its lead to 21 points, 49-28, just over a minute into the second half when Marshall made a layup.

FSU senior post Cierra Bravard answered by making a twisting layup while getting fouled and hitting her free throw, but the Yellow Jackets followed with an 11-4 run that increased Georgia Tech's advantage to 62-35 on a free throw by Goodlett with 14:12 left in the game.

Led by Howard and Bravard (11 points on 4-of-4 shooting), Florida State held a 36-30 edge on points in the paint. Junior guard Alexa Deluzio added 12 points for the Seminoles (11-10, 3-4).

Georgia Tech scored 32 points off FSU's turnovers and recorded 15 steals and 21 assists.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  32   6  11    0    2   0   0  12      2    1   3  0   2  7   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  34   2  14    0    5   0   0   4      0    5   5  2   2  3   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  26   1   4    1    2   0   0   3      0    2   2  0   2  7   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  31   6  11    0    1   1   5  13      0    5   5  1   0  3   1   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  21   4   4    0    0   3   4  11      2    1   3  2   0  1   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube            12   1   1    0    0   1   3   3      3    1   4  2   1  1   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         26   1   2    0    0   2   3   4      1    2   3  0   0  2   1   0
34 Chelsea Davis            18   2   3    0    0   1   2   5      2    2   4  1   1  0   1   0
   Team                                                           1    3   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  23  50    1   10   8  17  55     11   22  33  8   8 24   3   3
   Opp                     200  35  64    5   14   4   7  79      8   19  27 20  21 11   2  15


  1 2 Total
Georgia Tech
45
34
79
Florida State
28
27
55

Florida State 67, North Carolina State 64
01/27/2012, Raleigh, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Leo Ole!

Junior Leo Rodriguez buried NC State with a game-winning trey with 1.1 seconds left on Friday.

RALEIGH, NC - The Florida State women's basketball team made only one three-pointer on Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum, but it came at the perfect time.

Junior Leo Rodriguez broke a 64-64 tie by swishing a 25-foot three-point bomb with 1.1 seconds left to give the Seminoles an important 67-64 road victory over NC State.

"I knew I needed to make that shot for our team after we played so hard all night," Rodriguez said. "I didn't even jump after I made it, I just thought, 'praise God.'"

Rodriguez had her best game as a Seminole, scoring 11 points to go along with a career-best nine boards and six assists in 35 minutes.

She and sophomore reserve guard Olivia Bresnahan (five points and three assists in a career-best 32 minutes) picked up the play-making duties for junior point guard Alexa Deluzio, who played only two minutes in the second half after suffering a right ankle sprain.

"We saw heart tonight, we saw workhorses, we saw a team that would never quit," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "When Alexa went down everybody just stepped up."

With 32 seconds left in the game NC State's Myishia Goodwin-Coleman came up with a steal and made a layup to make it a two-point game, 64-62, in favor of the Noles. After senior Cierra Bravard's cross-court pass went through junior Chasity Clayton's hands, Goodwin-Coleman found Holston for a layup to tie the game with 8.9 seconds left.

After NC State used their final timeout, Bresnahan found Rodriguez well behind the arc and the Canary Islands, Spain, native confidently let fly the game-winner.

"In the final huddle we talked about what we were going to do if they pressed and what we were going to do if they didn't," Semrau said. "We stressed that most games are won on offensive rebounds. The fact that there was no offensive rebound was the best thing about the last shot of the game.

"I give credit to NC State for how hard they played until the last second. They had an opportunity to tie it at the end."

Sophomore forward Natasha Howard recorded her eighth double-double of the season (17 points, 10 boards) as FSU overcame 32 turnovers by shooting 56.9 percent from the floor, outscoring the Wolfpack 44-14 in the paint and holding a 46-28 edge on the glass.

One minute into the second half, Howard skied above the rim to catch a lob pass from Rodriguez. The 6-3 forward was fouled while in the air but tapped the ball in for a layup.

Her ensuing free throw put the Seminoles up 13. The Wolfpack chipped away at its deficit, however, until tying the game at the end.

Despite committing 17 turnovers in the first half, Florida state held a commanding 39-30 lead at the break thanks to shooting a season-best 65.4 percent and making a pair of 10-0 runs.

Led by Bonae Holston, who scored eight points in the game's first eight minutes, NC State jumped out to a 17-10 lead early in the game.

The Seminoles answered with their first 10-0 run and held the Wolfpack without a field goal for over five minutes.

Deluzio gave the Noles their first lead, 18-17, 10 minutes into the game after snagging a rebound and zig-zagging up the court for a tough layup. Bresnahan capped the 10-0 Seminole run with a layup to put FSU in front by 3.

FSU's second first-half 10-0 run gave the Noles a 38-25 lead with 1:19 remaining before the break.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  18   4   6    0    1   0   0   8      0    2   2  0   0  0   0   1
00 Chasity Clayton       f  35   5  10    0    0   0   0  10      1    5   6  2   2  9   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  35   5   9    1    3   0   0  11      1    8   9  3   6  4   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  37   6  10    0    0   5   5  17      1    9  10  3   2  5   1   0
54 Cierra Bravard        f  23   4   4    0    0   2   2  10      1    5   6  4   0  4   1   0
20 Kristi Mokube             7   1   3    0    0   0   1   2      1    0   1  3   0  1   0   1
22 Olivia Bresnahan         32   2   4    0    0   1   2   5      0    4   4  1   3  6   0   2
34 Chelsea Davis            13   2   5    0    0   0   1   4      3    2   5  3   0  2   0   1
   Team                                                           2    1   3         1        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  29  51    1    4   8  11  67     10   36  46 19  13 32   2   5
   Opp                     200  19  65    6   18  20  26  64     13   15  28 18  16 13   4  14


  1 2 Total
Florida State
39
28
67
North Carolina State
30
34
64

Virginia 62, Florida State 52
01/29/2012, Charlottesville, Va.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Noles Fall at Virginia.

FSU goes 1-1 on its weekend road trip.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - The Florida State women's basketball team capped its weekend road trip with a 1-1 mark after falling at Virginia, 62-52, on Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Seminoles (12-11, 4-4 in the ACC) captured a 67-64 victory at NC State on Friday night after junior Leo Rodriguez drilled a 25-foot three-point bomb with 1.1 seconds remaining.

Rodriguez swished a trey in the final minute against the Cavaliers, too, but this time it only brought the Seminoles within 8, 58-50, in a choppy game where FSU committed 23 turnovers and was outrebounded 36-34.

"We didn't play with the same heart that we had NC State," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "Virginia did a great job of packing in their zone and forcing us to pass the ball around. They limited our posts touches. With Alexa (Deluzio) hobbled we didn't have the same scoring attack we normally have. Turnovers were a big deal for us again. We'll continue to try to fight that battle. We have a week to regroup."

The Seminoles were led by senior Cierra Bravard, who scored a team-best 12 points, battled constant double- and triple-teams and made her first five shots of the game. Dating back to the first half of FSU's game at Boston College on Jan. 19, Bravard made 15 consecutive field goals over a four-game span.

Sophomore guard Olivia Bresnahan earned her first start of her career in place of Deluzio, who suffered a right ankle sprain against the Wolfpack on Friday. Deluzio still logged 35 minutes and played valiantly off the bench, leading FSU with six boards.

Virginia was led by Ariana Moorer, who scored 15 points and Lexie Gerson, who scored 13 points and made five steals.

Moorer drilled a three-pointer to push the Cavaliers' lead to 12 with 5:21 left in the game. Her free throws at the 4:41 mark put Virginia ahead, 56-42.

Bravard picked up two fouls in the game's first five minutes, but her perfect 4-of-4 shooting performance kept FSU in the game in the first half despite the 15 turnovers the Seminoles committed before the break.

Bravard took a seat because of the early foul trouble at the 15:42 mark in the first half after scoring the Seminoles' first four points. She returned with just under 10 minutes before halftime and promptly made two baskets in a 48-second span.

After Chelsea Davis' layup with just under six minutes left in the first half, the Seminoles didn't score for over five minutes, as Virginia built a 26-18 lead.

Deluzio's first basket of the game, a layup where she knifed through three Cavaliers in the paint at the 1:06 mark, ended the Noles' scoring drought and sparked a 7-0 run by the Garnet and Gold to end the half.

Deluzio drilled a three-pointer 35 seconds before the break that cut the Virginia lead to just 3. Freshman Kristi Mokube's buzzer-beating putback gave FSU a one-point deficit at the break, 26-25.

Virginia outscored the Seminoles 11-2 before the first media timeout of the second half, however. Gerson kicked off the final stanza with a three-pointer 20 seconds after halftime to put the Cavaliers ahead by 7.

Virginia stretched its lead to a dozen points, 45-33, after Ataira Franklin buried a jumper with 11:20 remaining in the contest.

Sophomore forward Natasha Howard's putback of Bravard's first missed shot closed the gap to seven points, 47-40, at the 9:22 mark and forced first-year Virginia coach Joanne Boyle to burn a timeout.

The Cavaliers answered with a 9-2 run capped by Moorer's three-pointer and free throw combination that sealed the win.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
00 Chasity Clayton       f  28   3   9    0    3   0   0   6      2    3   5  1   2  5   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  25   1   2    1    2   0   0   3      0    2   2  1   3  4   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan      g  33   2   4    0    0   2   2   6      0    1   1  1   5  6   0   2
33 Natasha Howard        f  34   4   6    0    0   0   0   8      2    4   6  3   0  4   2   2
54 Cierra Bravard        f  24   5  10    0    0   2   6  12      3    1   4  3   0  2   1   1
 3 Alexa Deluzio            35   3  10    1    5   0   0   7      2    4   6  2   2  1   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube             6   1   1    0    0   0   1   2      1    0   1  1   0  0   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            15   3   6    0    0   2   6   8      1    2   3  4   0  1   1   0
   Team                                                           1    5   6                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  22  48    2   10   6  15  52     12   22  34 16  12 23   4   6
   Opp                     200  20  56    2   11  20  25  62     16   20  36 15  10 13   1  14


  1 2 Total
Florida State
25
27
52
Virginia
26
36
62

Florida State 78, Virginia Tech 60
02/05/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Howard Leads FSU Past VT.

The sophomore forward grabbed 10 offensive boards.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State women's basketball team didn't miss many shots on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center, and when the Seminoles did Natasha Howard was usually there to clean the glass.

Howard grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and was one of three Noles to score 16 points, as FSU completed the season sweep of Virginia Tech with a 78-60 victory.

Florida State (13-11 overall and 5-5 in the ACC) also routed the Hokies (7-17, 3-8), 75-40, in Blacksburg, Va., on Jan. 8.

Howard tallied her ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 14 total boards to go along with her 16 points.

"My mindset coming into the game was to prepare myself to get every loose ball I can on the offensive and defensive ends," Howard said. "Coach Sue always tells me to get 10 rebounds. `Go get 10 rebounds, we can't win without you,' she says."

Senior center Cierra Bravard and junior forward Chelsea Davis also scored 16 points, as FSU outscored VT, 40-14, in the paint.

Junior guard Leo Rodriguez added a career-high 13 points and made both of her three-point attempts, while junior wing Chasity Clayton scored 12 points. FSU shot 50.9 percent from the field for the game.

The Seminoles also held a commanding 49-23 edge on the glass and recorded 26 second-chance points.

Bravard and Howard were relentless in the paint from the start of the game.

Bravard scored FSU's first six points on mix of a layup, a pair of free throws and a putback.

FSU racked up a dozen boards and 12 second chance points in the game's first eight minutes.

"Cierra getting the ball on the first possession and getting fouled and knocking down the free throws -- I thought really set the tone for us," FSU head coach Sue Semrau said. "Any win is a big win in February and we needed that one today."

Howard's third putback of the game gave FSU an 18-10 lead at the 12:20 mark of the first half.

Three minutes later, Clayton stole the ball from VT point guard Aerial Wilson, sprinted down the court and dished a pass to a trailing Bravard for an easy fastbreak layup to put the Seminoles in front 23-14.

The Hokies cut their deficit to six points, 31-25, on a corner three from reigning ACC Player of the Week Monet Tellier just under four minutes before the break.

The Seminoles answered by scoring six straight points, however. After Clayton swished a three, Rodriguez zipped past a couple of Virginia Tech defenders for a baseline layup.

Wilson opened the second half by burying a three-pointer 30 seconds after the break to make the score 39-31, but the Seminoles used a 10-2 run to take a 49-33 lead.

Clayton ignited the run by swishing her second trey of the game and Rodriguez capped the run with a trey-ball of her own with 16:30 remaining in the game.

A pair of jumpers by Latorrie Hines-Allen cut FSU's lead to 8, 61-53, with 6:33 left in the game.

Davis answered with a pair of free throws and Howard scored on back-to-back plays to end the threat and give the Seminoles a 67-53 lead with 5:11 left in the contest.

Rodriguez's three with 2:21 left sealed the victory, putting the Noles up, 74-57.

Freshman walk-on guard Emma Loucks made her collegiate debut in Sunday's contest, as well, checking in with 35.2 seconds left.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  31   1   4    0    2   3   3   5      1    2   3  2   2  2   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  33   5  10    2    5   0   0  12      2    1   3  1   3  4   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  33   5   7    2    2   1   2  13      1    6   7  1   2  2   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  31   8  16    0    0   0   0  16     10    4  14  3   3  4   0   1
54 Cierra Bravard        f  20   5   7    0    0   6   8  16      2    4   6  4   0  4   0   0
 4 Emma Loucks               1   0   1    0    1   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube             3   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  1   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         22   0   2    0    0   0   0   0      0    3   3  0   3  1   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            26   5   9    0    0   6   8  16      2    3   5  1   0  1   0   0
   Team                                                           1    6   7                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  29  57    4   10  16  21  78     19   30  49 13  13 18   0   3
   Opp                     200  25  65    4   15   6  11  60     12   11  23 18  10  8   1   6


  1 2 Total
Virginia Tech
28
32
60
Florida State
39
39
78

Wake Forest 65, Florida State 55
02/09/2012, Winston-Salem, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Falls at Wake Forest.

Howard recorded her 10th double-double, but FSU lost 65-55.

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Sophomore forward Natasha Howard tallied her 10th double-double of the season, but the Florida State women's basketball team fell to Wake Forest, 65-55, on Thursday night at the Joel Coliseum.

Howard filled the stat sheet with 13 points, 10 boards, two blocks and a career-best five steals to lead the Seminoles (13-12 overall and 5-6 in the ACC).

Wake Forest (14-10, 4-7) got 20 points from guard Lakevia Boykin, who also made all four of her three-point attempts.

"Howard is a special player," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "She works very hard. You see the production from how hard she works. I can't say enough about Natasha. I wish a few more shots would've dropped tonight so she would've been rewarded with a victory. Boykin is a tremendous player for Wake Forest. She has taken a lot on her shoulders and can score in a variety of ways."

Junior guard Morgan Toles made her season debut for the Seminoles, checking in at the 16:41 mark in the first half.

The 5-9 transfer out of Fayetteville, Ga., played 32 minutes, grabbed four boards and dished three assists.

Junior guard Alexa Deluzio scored 14 points, leaving her just one point shy of becoming the 27th Seminole to reach 1,000 career points.

FSU never led in the second half, but Deluzio's corner trey off a pass from Toles tied the game 51-51 with 4:18 remaining.

That play came just a minute after junior guard Leonor Rodriguez buried a step-back three to bring FSU within 3.

Boykin answered FSU's trey barrage with a three-pointer of her own - her fourth of the night, to push Wake Forest's lead back to 56-53 with three minutes left in the contest.

A layup by Howard brought FSU within a point, but Wake Forest's Mykala Walker made the score 58-53 with back-to-back scores, the second shot a long jumper with 1:32 left in the game.

Wake Forest guard Brooke Thomas made a pair of free throws to put the Demon Deacons ahead by 7, and Rodriguez's three-point attempt with 38 seconds left rattled out of the hoops, as the host team knocked down its free throws down the stretch.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  39   5  18    2    8   2   2  14      4    0   4  1   1  4   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton       f  23   3   4    2    3   0   0   8      0    3   3  2   0  4   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  21   1   4    1    3   2   3   5      0    0   0  2   1  0   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  34   6   9    1    2   0   2  13      3    7  10  4   0  3   2   5
54 Cierra Bravard        f  20   4   9    0    0   1   2   9      1    6   7  4   1  2   1   0
 1 Morgan Toles             32   0   3    0    0   0   0   0      1    3   4  2   3  3   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube             2   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    3   3  1   0  1   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan          8   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    1   1  0   0  0   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            21   2   8    0    0   2   4   6      3    2   5  1   0  5   0   1
   Team                                                           2        2         2        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  21  56    6   16   7  13  55     14   25  39 17   6 24   4  10
   Opp                     200  24  60    5   12  12  14  65     12   25  37 13  14 17   5   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
24
31
55
Wake Forest
29
36
65

Duke 67, Florida State 57
02/12/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Falls to No. 5 Duke, 67-57.

Alexa Deluzio became the 27th Nole to score 1,000 points.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State women's basketball team battled fifth-ranked Duke tough once again on Sunday in FSU's annual "Paint it Pink Game" at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Blue Devils (21-3 overall and 12-0 in the ACC) made 58.3 percent of their second-half shots, however, to pull away and hand the Seminoles a 67-57 loss.

FSU (13-13, 5-7) also was edged by Duke on Jan. 13, 73-66, in Durham, N.C.

"I couldn't be prouder of the way we played today," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "They left everything they had on the floor against the No. 5 team in the country. I'm very proud of them."

Two players Semrau was particularly proud of were junior guard Alexa Deluzio and sophomore forward Natasha Howard. The pair continued to play well despite FSU falling behind by as many as 19 points with 8:45 remaining in the second half.

Deluzio scored 18 points and made a pair of treys, while Howard stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals in a career-best 38 minutes.

"I look at how Natasha ran down a fastbreak layup in the second half - most players wouldn't do that," Semrau said. "I think of how Alexa took over the game when she had an opportunity to play in the open court. It's fun to see those plays and see their development."

Deluzio's layup at the 12:45 mark in the first half gave her 1,001 career points, making her the 27th Seminole to reach the mark. The Orlando, Fla., native has played more on the wing the last two games with the addition of junior transfer point guard Morgan Toles.

Duke's potent offensive attack was spearheaded by Haley Peters, as she scored 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

The first three-pointer attempted and made of freshman center Elizabeth Williams' career sparked a 10-2 run late in the first half that gave Duke the lead for good.

After Williams' trey-ball, teammate Kathleen Scheer followed with a three of her own on Duke's next possession. Shay Selby and Tricia Liston added back-to-back buckets to give the Blue Devils a 28-19 lead with 3:21 remaining before halftime.

The Blue Devils took a 32-25 lead into the break, but Howard put the Seminoles on board first after halftime with a layup at the 19:40 mark.

Two minutes into the second half, Deluzio snuck up on Duke floor general Chelsea Grey and stole the ball before racing down the court for a layup that cut FSU's deficit to 4, 33-29.

The Blue Devils answered with a 12-2 run propelled by Peters' first three of the game and took a 49-34 lead after Grey converted a three-point play with 12:28 left in the game.

FSU fought back and made 5-of-7 field goals at one point in the second half, but the closest the Seminoles came down the stretch was 8, 63-55, when sophomore Olivia Bresnahan made a putback with 2:27 remaining.

Toles earned her first start in the Garnet and Gold in her second game of the season. She made her first field goal as a Seminoles on a foul line jumper at the 15:58 mark in the first half.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Morgan Toles          g  33   1   2    0    0   0   0   2      1    2   3  2   3  7   0   1
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  36   8  17    2    6   0   0  18      2    2   4  4   1  3   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  28   2   7    0    3   5   6   9      1    1   2  0   3  3   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  38   6  13    0    0   2   2  14      2    5   7  4   0  4   3   3
54 Cierra Bravard        f  23   0   4    0    0   6   6   6      1    5   6  3   0  2   1   1
20 Kristi Mokube             0   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      0    0   0  0   0  0   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         21   2   3    0    0   0   0   4      1    1   2  0   2  0   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            21   1   3    0    0   2   2   4      1    1   2  1   1  1   0   2
   Team                                                           2    2   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  20  49    2    9  15  16  57     11   19  30 14  10 20   4   8
   Opp                     200  27  55    5    8   8  15  67     11   17  28 13  12 15   3  10


  1 2 Total
Duke
32
35
67
Florida State
25
32
57

North Carolina 71, Florida State 66
02/15/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

FSU Edged by UNC.

Cierra Bravard scored 19 off the bench for the Seminoles.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Seminoles' second-half flurry wasn't enough to down North Carolina on Wednesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Florida State women's basketball team cut a 14-point second-half deficit to 2, but ultimately couldn't complete the comeback, falling 71-66 to the Tar Heels.

"What's frustrating is that we haven't figured out it's a 40-minute game and I think the team feels that way, too," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "I think we have allowed a lot of distractions, whether it be a distraction of a trap, whether it be a distraction of a changing defense, whatever it might be...we have allowed that to let the other team capitalize. That's the result you're going to get, and it's a good and a hard lesson to learn."

The Seminoles (13-14, 5-8 in the ACC) trailed 60-46 after a layup by North Carolina senior post Chay Shegog with 10:15 to play.

The Tar Heels (18-8, 8-5) didn't make another field goal until 2:46 remained in the game, allowing FSU to storm back to within 4, 62-58, on a pair free throws from senior center Cierra Bravard.

FSU forced UNC to miss 11 straight shots during that stretch in the second half.

The Tar Heels escaped with the victory by hitting free throws down the stretch.

A three-pointer by junior guard Leonor Rodriguez closed the gap to 68-66 with 20 seconds left. UNC's Krista Gross answered by drilling a pair of free throws to make the score 70-66.

Junior guard Alexa Deluzio missed a jumper with 11 seconds left, and Tar Heel wing Tierra Ruffin-Pratt split a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to clinch the game for UNC.

The Seminoles dug themselves a hole in the first half, as North Carolina held a 20-10 edge on the glass and a 10-0 lead in second-chance points before the break. UNC attempted 37 shots compared to just 19 field goal attempts for the Seminoles, and led 42-29.

"I think you have to really compliment North Carolina," Semrau said. "They struggled in some areas and they got after it on the boards. That's not something we didn't talk about, but they got after it on the boards. We dug ourselves into quite a hole and weren't able to dig ourselves out."

North Carolina senior guard She'la White caught fire from behind the arc drilling four treys in the first 20 minutes. Her third three put the Tar Heels up 35-21 with 3:31 remaining in the first half, and her fourth trifecta gave UNC a 40-26 advantage just over a minute before the break.

North Carolina raced out to an 8-1 lead to start the game. Florida State responded by going on an 11-3 run to take its only lead, 12-11, on a pair of free throws from Bravard at the 12:39 mark in the first frame. Bravard didn't start for just the third time this season, but she finished with 19 points and matched her season-high with 11 free throws made.

After FSU's took the lead, the Tar Heels scored 15 of the game's next 17 points and grabbed a 26-15 advantage at the 7:40 mark in the first half after three consecutive layups by Ruffin-Pratt and Laura Broomfield.

FSU made it a game in the second half after Deluzio kissed a jumper off the glass while getting fouled and converted the free throw to bring the Noles within 7, 60-53, with 7:46 remaining in the contest.

Bravard made 3-of-4 free throws over the next 3-and-a-half minutes to close the gap to 4.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Morgan Toles          g  38   3   5    0    0   0   0   6      0    2   2  3   3  3   0   1
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  38   4   8    2    3   3   3  13      0    4   4  3   1  4   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  30   2  11    1    3   0   0   5      2    2   4  2   1  0   1   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  25   2   2    0    0   4   4   8      0    9   9  4   2  2   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis         f  21   3   5    0    0   7   9  13      0    2   2  1   1  5   1   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan         16   1   3    0    0   0   0   2      0    0   0  0   1  1   0   0
54 Cierra Bravard           32   4   5    0    0  11  14  19      0    4   4  5   3  5   0   0
   Team                                                           2    2   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  19  39    3    6  25  30  66      4   25  29 18  12 20   2   4
   Opp                     200  26  66    5   13  14  21  71     16   16  32 22   9 12   3  12


  1 2 Total
North Carolina
42
29
71
Florida State
29
37
66

Miami 67, Florida State 60
02/19/2012, Coral Gables, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Howard's Big Game Not Enough.

Seminoles fall, 67-60, at No. 6 Miami.

CORAL GABLES, FL - Another brilliant game by sophomore forward Natasha Howard wasn't enough for the Florida State women's basketball team to end the nation's second-longest home winning streak at No. 6 Miami on Sunday.

The Hurricanes got a combined 47 points from their all-conference senior backcourt of Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams to hold off the Seminoles 67-60 and win their 39th straight at the BandkUnited Center.

Howard tallied her 11th double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. She scored 22 points and hauled in 17 rebounds in Miami's 60-57 win in Tallahassee on Jan. 15.

"That was a great game as usual between these two teams," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "We will all be happy to see Riquna and Shenise graduate. They're two really great players, and the rest of the team really stepped it up. We made some costly turnovers and that was really the difference. We made a great run at it. We just need to continue to learn how to handle pressure."

Led by Howard's brilliant play in the paint, the Seminoles shot lights out in first half, connecting on 12-of-18 field goal attempts for a season-best 66.7 first-half shooting percentage.

Trailing 12-4, Howard keyed a 9-0 FSU run by hitting back-to-back layups and making a free throw. Her hook shot at the 11:34 mark of the first half gave Florida State its first lead of the contest, 13-12.

A back-and-forth first half ended with Miami's dynamic All-ACC backcourt putting the Hurricanes in the lead at the break despite FSU's efficient shooting. Williams and Johnson capped the half by hitting back-to-back treys, as Miami went the locker room, leading 36-31.

The pair was back at it in the second half.

Johnson's 18-foot jumper three minutes into the second half put the Hurricanes up by 9, 42-33, and forced Semrau to burn a timeout. A three by Williams with 14:40 left stretched the Hurricanes lead to 50-39.

Still FSU made a run, using an 8-0 spurt to tie the game, 57-57, on junior Alexa Deluzio's first basket of the contest with 5:15 left.

Williams answered by putting back her own miss, and Johnson put Miami up 3 with a layup with 2:33 left.

Williams and Johnson combined to go 5-of-6 from the line in the final 35 seconds to make the score, 67-60.

Senior forward Cierra Bravard scored 12 points and junior post Chelsea Davis added 11 for the Seminoles, who scored 36 points in the paint and held a 39-29 rebounding advantage.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 1 Morgan Toles          g  25   3   5    0    0   2   3   8      0    0   0  4   2  1   0   0
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  36   1   7    0    2   3   4   5      1    3   4  1   2  6   3   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  27   1   5    0    2   2   2   4      0    5   5  1   2  3   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  39   8  11    0    0   3   4  19      5    8  13  2   4  6   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis         f  19   4   7    0    0   3   3  11      2    4   6  2   1  1   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton          23   0   3    0    1   1   2   1      0    0   0  3   1  0   0   1
22 Olivia Bresnahan          9   0   0    0    0   0   0   0      1    0   1  2   0  3   0   0
54 Cierra Bravard           22   5   7    0    0   2   5  12      0    3   3  5   3  3   1   0
   Team                                                           1    6   7         1        
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  22  45    0    5  16  23  60     10   29  39 20  15 24   5   2
   Opp                     200  24  62    5   18  14  21  67     11   18  29 20  12  9   1  11


  1 2 Total
Florida State
31
29
60
Miami
36
31
67

Florida State 74, Clemson 52
02/23/2012, Clemson, S.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Clayton Leads FSU Past Clemson.

Junior Chasity Clayton snagged a double-double off the bench.

CLEMSON, SC - The Florida State women's basketball team got off to a rough start on Thursday night at Littlejohn Coliseum against Clemson, making just one of its first 12 field goal attempts.

Chasity Clayton came off the bench and smoothed things out for the Seminoles (14-15, 6-9 in the ACC), however. The Redshirt junior out of Panama City, Fla., recorded her second double-double of the season to lead Florida State to a 74-52 victory over the Tigers (6-20, 2-13).

It's the eighth consecutive win for FSU over Clemson and the 19th Nole victory in the last 20 matchups between the two teams.

Clayton had 13 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. Sophomore forward Natasha Howard also tallied a double-double - her ACC-best 12th of the season - with 11 points and 10 boards. Five Seminoles scored in double figures and FSU grabbed a season-high 54 rebounds.

"Chasity Clayton and Natasha Howard played fantastic tonight," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "I'm proud of the way we crashed the boards and fought hard in this game. Having five players in double figures is always a plus and shows what a great team effort we had tonight."

Junior Chelsea Davis scored 13 points and junior Alexa Deluzio and senior Cierra Bravard added 10 apiece.

Clayton entered the game at the 15:55 mark in the first half and promptly drilled back-to-back buckets to give FSU a 9-7 lead.

After Clemson took an 11-9 lead, Clayton sparked a 13-2 run over a two-minute span with a three-pointer from the left corner 9:40 before the break. Davis followed with a layup before junior guard Leonor Rodriguez swished back-to-back treys right in front of the eight-minute mark. Clayton capped the run with a jumper in the lane to make the score 22-13 at the 7:42 mark.

After five straight points from Clemon guard Nikki Dixon brought the Tigers within 4, Bravard was fouled on a layup attempt by Clemson's Shaniqua Pauldo with five minutes left in the first half. Bravard was called for a dead ball technical foul, however, for an apparent elbow at the end of the play.

She drilled both her free throws to make the score 24-18, but had to sit for the remainder of the first frame with three fouls.

Howard made back-to-back baskets following the sequence and FSU took a 34-26 lead into halftime.

The Seminoles poured in more offense after the break.

Rodriguez's season-best and career-high-tying third trey of the game put the Seminoles up 41-30 with 16:35 left in the contest.

The Noles went ahead by 20 with nine minutes left in the game when Clayton turned facilitator and found a wide-open Deluzio for a three-pointer that made the score 60-40.

Later, Clayton skied high for an impressive layup that made the score 68-47.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  20   3  10    2    6   2   2  10      3    2   5  4   2  1   0   0
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  36   3   5    3    4   0   0   9      0    4   4  0   6  3   1   3
22 Olivia Bresnahan      g  34   2   5    0    0   2   4   6      1    5   6  2   4  5   2   3
33 Natasha Howard        f  29   3   9    0    0   5  10  11      5    5  10  3   0  3   2   3
34 Chelsea Davis         f  24   5  12    0    0   3   7  13      3    1   4  1   1  2   1   0
00 Chasity Clayton          27   5   8    1    3   2   2  13      5    8  13  3   2  3   0   0
20 Kristi Mokube            10   1   1    0    0   0   0   2      0    2   2  1   0  2   0   0
54 Cierra Bravard           20   2  10    0    0   6   6  10      2    2   4  4   0  4   4   0
   Team                                                           4    2   6                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  60    6   13  20  31  74     23   31  54 18  15 23  10   9
   Opp                     200  17  55    1   10  17  23  52     11   21  32 22  10 22   6  11


  1 2 Total
Florida State
35
39
74
Clemson
26
26
52

Virginia 66, Florida State 57
02/26/2012, Tallahassee, Fla.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Bravard Says Bye, But FSU Falls to UVa.

Senior center Cierra Bravard tallied 24 points and 10 boards in her final home game.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - In her final regular season home game for the Florida State women's basketball team, senior center Cierra Bravard had one of the finest games of her career on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The all-conference Sandusky, Ohio, native's monster 24-point, 10-rebound effort wasn't enough to lead the Seminoles (14-16, 6-10 in the ACC) past Virginia, though.

The Cavaliers (21-9, 9-7) got 23 points from guard Ariana Moorer and captured a 66-57 victory.

Virginia outscored the Seminoles, 24-4, in points off turnovers, and scored 11 straight points during a decisive stretch in the final six minutes of the game.

"Obviously it was a tough defeat for us," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "I'm happy for the way that Cierra was able to go out playing great basketball, and at the same time I know that neither one of us is happy nor satisfied with the way we FSU trailed by as many as 11 in the second half and was down 51-42 after Moorer made a layup with 8:14 remaining in the game.

Following the play, Moorer was whistled for a technical foul. The mistake sparked a 9-0 FSU run the Seminoles used to tie the game.

After junior guard Alexa Deluzio drilled the technical free throws, she swished a three-pointer to make the score 51-47 with 7:49 left.

Deluzio nearly hit another three 30 seconds later, but Bravard was there with the putback to bring the Noles within a pair.

Junior Chasity Clayton ripped down a rebound on a Moorer miss on Virginia's next possession and raced down the court, finding sophomore forward Natasha Howard for a layup that tied the game 51-51 at the 6:37 mark in the second half.

The Seminoles didn't score another point for nearly three minutes, however, as the Cavaliers responded by scoring 11 unanswered points over a two-minute span.

Guard Ataira Franklin hit a three at 6:12 to break the tie before Simone Egwu made a layup and Moorer completed a three-point play.

Lexie Gerson supplied the dagger for Virginia, swishing a three-pointer with 4:12 left in the game that gave the Cavaliers a commanding 62-51 advantage.

Bravard finished the game with her 16th double-double and 13th 20-point game of her career. She made 11-of-13 field goal attempts in her 131st game. She is tied for third in games played in FSU history and has never missed a contest in her career.

"Today was exciting," Bravard said. "Today was emotional. I just really wanted it to be a normal game feeling for me. I didn't want have all these other thoughts of who was there, or what it meant, being my last game, and I just tried to play a normal g "At this point we don't really have anything to lose. I think it is always important to know that as a team that we did play hard and played together. It's just a matter of putting all the pieces together and limiting our turnovers and scoring on the gu Deluzio (13 points) and Howard (10) joined Bravard in double figures. Deluzio wraps up the regular season as the ACC's leader in free throw shooting in conference games. She made a remarkable 91.9 percent of her charity stripe attempts (34-of-37) in 16 Howard was three boards shy of her 13th double-double of the season. Still, her 12 double-doubles in 2011-12 led the ACC, and her 9.4 rpg average was tops in the conference in league games.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  37   4  14    1    4   4   4  13      2    2   4  1   3  2   0   1
10 Leonor Rodriguez      g  19   0   5    0    5   0   0   0      0    3   3  1   2  4   0   0
22 Olivia Bresnahan      g  33   2   2    0    0   0   0   4      1    1   2  0   2  5   0   0
33 Natasha Howard        f  36   5   7    0    0   0   1  10      4    3   7  2   3  3   3   0
54 Cierra Bravard        f  30  11  13    0    0   2   3  24      2    8  10  4   0  0   1   1
00 Chasity Clayton          31   2   8    1    5   0   0   5      0    4   4  3   2  2   0   1
34 Chelsea Davis            14   0   1    0    0   1   2   1      1    1   2  0   1  2   1   0
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  24  50    2   14   7  10  57     10   22  32 11  13 18   5   3
   Opp                     200  24  52    6   15  12  13  66      5   18  23 14  12  8   2   7


  1 2 Total
Virginia
37
29
66
Florida State
31
26
57

North Carolina State 74, Florida State 71
03/01/2012, ACC, Greensboro, N.C.

From the FSU Website, seminoles.com.

Women's Hoops Season Comes to a Close.

FSU fell to NC State in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday.

GREENSBORO, NC - The Florida State women's basketball team's 2011-12 season came to a close on Thursday in the first round of the ACC Tournament, as the eighth-seeded Seminoles were edged by the ninth-seeded NC State Wolfpack, 74-71, at Greensboro Coliseum.

Junior guard Alexa Deluzio scored 26 points and senior center Cierra Bravard capped her career with 14 points, but the Seminoles couldn't contain NC State from behind the arc.

The Wolfpack shot 55 percent (11-of-20) on three-point attempts. Junior guard Marrissa Kastanek made 4-of-6 treys en route to 21 points and sophomore point guard Myisha Goodwin-Coleman made 4-of-5 from downtown.

"Just a great congratulations to NC State," Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. "I thought in the second half, they did a great job of adjusting and defending our inside game. Alexa really stepped up for us, scored well from the perimeter, but it just wasn't enough."

Wolfpack guard Emily Tasler's trey - her only field goal - gave the Wolfpack a 72-71 lead with 1:23 left. After FSU sophomore forward Natasha Howard (12 points) missed a three attempt with 55 seconds remaining, Goodwin-Coleman grabbed the board and took the ball coast-to-coast for a layup that gave NC State three-point cushion at the 44-second mark.

Deluzio, who finished 10-of-15 from the field, had a last ditch jumper attempt miss with eight seconds left.

The Noles end the season with a 14-17 record, their first losing season since the 2001-02 campaign. Florida State's streak of seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is also snapped.

The Seminoles committed just five turnovers in the first half and held a 42-35 lead at halftime. FSU led by as many as 10 points, 47-37, after Deluzio buried a three at the 17:23 mark in the second half.

NC State continued to stay on fire from three, however. Back-to-back treys from Kastanek and Goodwin-Coleman capped a 10-0 run that tied the game at 47-47 with 15:21 remaining.

The rest of the game was a back and forth affair.

FSU went up 6 with 13:37 left, after five straight points from Deluzio, but again the Wolfpack hit a clutch three. Kastanek's trey with 9:13 left gave NC State its first lead since the first three minutes of the contest.

Deluzio's jumper at the 4:38 mark in the final frame gave the Noles a 69-67 lead. It was the final field goal Florida State made, however.

Bravard caps a memorable career ranking near the top of various FSU records. The 6-4 Sandusky, Ohio, native completes her collegiate career ranking No. 6 in Florida State history in scoring (1,501), fourth in blocks (113), ninth in rebounds (768) and third in games played (132). Her 453 free throws made are the most ever by an FSU player and her 54.1 career shooting percentage ranks third in school history. She was a two-time all-conference award winner and an honorable mention All-American in 2010-11.

"She's got great talent and she's got a really bright future ahead of her as a pro," Semrau said about Bravard. "She's meant a lot to the development of our program and she's continued to develop as a player and unfortunately we didn't have the guard play this year that might have put her in a better position. I think she will take this year and learn from it, and probably be a better pro as a result."

Deluzio set a single-season record for free throw percentage, making 83.9 percent of her charity stripe attempts. It breaks the old mark of .837 set by Holly Johnson in 2004-05.

Howard's 9.1 rebound average is the most boards a Seminole has averaged since Levys Torres averaged 10.0 in 2000-01.

Deluzio and Howard, who led the ACC double-doubles with 12, will lead the Seminoles in 2012-13. FSU will also return 11 of 12 from its roster, with Bravard the only senior on this year's team.

 
NO        NAME          GS MIN FGM FGA 3FGM 3FGA FTM FTA PTS   OREB DREB REB PF AST TO BLK STL
== ==================== == === === === ==== ==== === === ===   ==== ==== === == === == === ===
 3 Alexa Deluzio         g  38  10  15    3    5   3   3  26      0    1   1  1   2  4   0   0
00 Chasity Clayton       g  38   3   8    0    2   0   0   6      3    4   7  2   1  5   0   2
22 Olivia Bresnahan      g  31   1   6    0    1   0   0   2      0    2   2  0   3  3   0   1
33 Natasha Howard        f  38   4  13    1    2   3   6  12      5    3   8  2   4  2   3   2
54 Cierra Bravard        c  24   5   7    0    0   4   6  14      1    3   4  3   0  0   2   2
10 Leonor Rodriguez         13   2   4    1    1   0   0   5      0    0   0  0   2  2   0   1
20 Kristi Mokube             5   0   1    0    0   0   0   0      0    2   2  2   0  1   0   0
34 Chelsea Davis            13   1   2    0    0   4   4   6      2    0   2  3   1  0   1   0
   Team                                                           2    2   4                  
                     =========================================================================
   FSU                   5 200  26  56    5   11  14  19  71     13   17  30 13  13 17   6   8
   Opp                     200  30  60   11   20   3   6  74     15   19  34 16  13 19   1   7


  1 2 Total
Florida State
42
29
71
North Carolina State
35
39
74