For the Florida State women, the theme was the same as it has been the entire NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The third-seeded Seminoles again started slow, but came on strong in the second half to down No. 2 seed Oregon State in the Sweet 16 in Stockton, California, 66-53.
Things couldn’t have started much worse for the Seminoles or much better for the Beavers as Oregon State (31-5) raced to a 21-4 first quarter lead. FSU (28-6) was able to cut that lead to 11 by the end of the first quarter and to five by halftime as the Seminoles trailed 35-30 at the break.
FSU scored the first eight points of the second half to take its first lead and went on a 16-2 run to start the half and go up 46-39. Oregon State however, responded with seven straight points to even the game at 46 with less than seven minutes to play.
From there on out, it was all FSU as the Seminoles outscored the Beavers 20-7 to end the game and advance to the Elite Eight for the third time in school-history and the second time in three years.
Leticia Romero finished with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting to lead all scorers. Shakayla Thomas added 12 points and 11 rebounds for FSU in the win. Ivey Slaughter quietly chipped in with 11 points, nine steals and eight rebounds.
Kolbie Orum led Oregon State with 12 points. No other Beaver scored in double-figures. Leading scorer Sydney Wiese was held to nine points on 3-for-14 shooting. As a team, Oregon State was just 2-for-17 from beyond the 3-point arc while FSU was 0-for-5.
Florida State’s opponent on Monday will be top-seeded South Carolina. The Gamecocks defeated Quinnipiac on Saturday, 100-58. South Carolina defeated FSU in the Seminoles’ last trip to the Elite Eight two years ago.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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