The Florida State women’s basketball team welcomed rival Miami to the Tucker Center on Sunday, amidst the upcoming winter snowstorm that is expected to hit Tallahassee in the coming days. The Seminoles stayed hot and buried the Hurricanes 88-66.
FSU was led by junior superstar guard Ta’Niya Latson, who ended the night with 30 points, three rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Makayla Timpson broke the school record for career double doubles, notching the 42nd of her career as she scored 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.
After the talented forward got the record, she was subbed out of the game to a standing ovation and a big hug from coach Brooke Wyckoff.
“It felt great, I’m just grateful for this moment,” Timpson said. “I don’t want it to end, but just grateful for my team and my coaches. They encourage me each and every day and I’m just grateful to do it here at the university.”
Senior forward Malea Williams got the scoring going for the Seminoles when she buried a 3-pointer off of the opening tip-off, followed by another 3-pointer from junior guard Sydney Bowles.
The next time down the court, senior guard O’Mariah Gordon, although small in stature, was able to get in the paint to grab a rebound while being surrounded by multiple bigger and taller Miami defenders for the put back to make the score 8-0. In the blink of an eye, the Seminoles were up big, but basketball is a game of runs.
Florida State and Miami settled into their games and what has become a trend for first quarters, the Seminoles began to struggle. Miami began a run of their own and took their first lead when senior guard Haley Cavinder buried a 3-pointer, followed by an uncontested layup by her twin sister, Hanna. Miami had the lead 13-10 and, at that point, Wyckoff had seen enough and took her first timeout with three minutes and 37 seconds left in the first quarter.
Wyckoff isn’t naïve about her team’s inability to start fast, especially during home games.
“I know they’re not trying to come out and have a slow start,” Wyckoff said. “They’re trying and there are just some things that we’ve got to adjust to, maybe adjust a little bit quicker and that’s on us to help them figure those things out, but I could sense that we we’re going to be OK.”
FSU came out of the timeout with a little more focus. Sophomore guard Raiane Dias Dos Santos buried a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding and tied the game at 13. The talented guard finished the night with six points, three rebounds, five assists and gave the Seminoles extended minutes.
“The No. 1 thing about Raiane is that she just stays ready,” Wyckoff said. “There’s been games where she’s played one minute, and she had the same attitude every single day. She’s a sponge, she wants to learn, she’s a great teammate and she can play both sides of the ball. I’ve loved her growth on the offensive and defensive end, so she’s just ready and she stepped up.”
The Hurricanes led 22-18 at the end of the first quarter. Florida State scrapped with the Hurricanes and was able to tie the game at 28 with five minutes and 12 seconds left until half with Latson at the line for two shots. She buried both to give the Seminoles the lead.
Miami went cold from the floor the rest of the half and FSU extended its lead after going on a 7-0 run, forcing Miami to use a timeout. After a Latson 3-pointer gave FSU a 42-30 lead with one minute and 16 seconds left, the guard wanted more and heaved a half-court shot as the half expired only to see it hit the back of the rim.
The ’Noles went into halftime with a 42-32 lead and looked firmly in control.
The second half belonged to the Seminoles, who came out hot with an 8-0 run capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Latson. From then on, it was tough sledding for the Hurricanes to get anything going offensively. Florida State let the Cavinder twins score a combined 15 points in the first half. In the second half, the Seminoles stymied them at every turn and the famous TikTok sisters were held to two points in the second half.
FSU put the Hurricanes away in the fourth quarter as a 12-2 run put the game out of reach, 85-61 with three minutes and 22 seconds left.
It doesn’t matter which sport, FSU fans, players and coaches will always cherish a win over the Miami Hurricanes.
“This one means just a little bit more,” Wyckoff said. “These women came out ready to go despite a little bit of a slow start in the first quarter. It was a full team effort today and that’s what you need against an in-conference rival, so just really happy with what we did today.”
