No. 8 Florida State women roll to 79-48 win over Pittsburgh (Feb 23, 2017)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida State coach Sue Semrau was worried before Thursday night's game against Pittsburgh that her team might be looking ahead to Sunday's showdown at Notre Dame.
Those worries lasted less than three minutes.
After the Panthers scored the first four points, the eighth-ranked Seminoles scored the next 10 and kept extending their lead from there as they rolled to a 79-48 victory.
Florida State, which led by as many 34 late in the fourth quarter, goes into Sunday's regular-season finale against needing a win against the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish to secure a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and the top seed in the ACC Tournament.
''They did a great job of limiting distractions. They stayed focus and were able to jump out to the lead early,'' Semrau said. ''Now we have to go and have that same type of focus on Sunday.''
All five starters scored in double figures for Florida State (25-4, 13-2). Brittany Brown and Chatrice White led the way with 13 points each while Leticia Romero and Imani Wright both scored 12. Ivey Slaughter had 10.
''They are too physical of a team and we were unable to match up,'' Pitt coach Susie McConnell-Serio said. ''They made plays. For a young team you need to have success early and we didn't.''
Brenna Wise scored 23 points for the Panthers (13-15, 4-11). They have dropped seven of eight.
BIG PICTURE
Pitt: The Panthers have also lost 11 straight road games, including all 10 this season. It marks the second time in six seasons that they have gone winless on the road. The last time was 2011-12 when Pitt was 0-10.
Florida State: This is the first senior class in school history to have 50 wins in conference play. The class of Brown, Romero, Slaughter and Kai James has compiled a 50-19 mark, which includes the ACC Tournament.
TIP-INS
Florida State's seniors accounted for 40 of the team's points. ... Five of FSU's conference wins have been by 30 points or more, including the past two. ... Pitt was 17 of 46 (37 percent) from the field. It is the seventh time in conference play that the Panthers have shot 37 percent or worse. ... Pitt leads the ACC in free-throw percentage (75.7 percent) and has gone 17 of 19 from the line in its past two games.
INJURIES
Florida State's Shakayla Thomas, who is the team's leading scorer at 15 points per game, was in uniform and took pregame warmups, but the junior forward missed her second straight game due to a left shoulder injury she suffered at Virginia on Feb. 16. White has started the past two games and has scored in double figures.
Semrau said Thomas has not had any contact work and that she remains questionable for Sunday's game.
SHE SAID IT
''They are a really talented team with no weaknesses. Even without Thomas they didn't miss a beat,'' McConnell-Serio on Florida State.
UP NEXT
Pitt: Hosts No. 20 Syracuse in the regular-season finale Sunday. The Panthers' have lost 16 straight to ranked teams, including all eight this season.
Florida State: Travels to fifth-ranked Notre Dame on Sunday. The Seminoles have lost all five of their previous meetings against the Fighting Irish.
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