No. 22 Florida State (19-5, 9-3 ACC) fell to no. 14 NC State (19-4, 11-1 ACC) by a 97-74 score today in Tallahassee.

Game Recap

NC State took control of the game midway through the first quarter. The Wolfpack hit FSU with a 15-2 run that was capped by a layup from Aziaha James. NC State took a 19-9 lead and forced Brooke Wyckoff into calling a timeout. From there the teams mostly traded baskets and the Pack ended the quarter with a 26-14 lead.

In the second quarter FSU tried to come back. O’Mariah Gordon hit a layup to cut the lead to 39-31. However, NC State responded with a devastating 12-0 run to end the half which enabled them to take a commanding 51-31 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter Florida State reeled off a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 65-49 but the Noles would get no closer. The Pack would score seven of the last nine points of the quarter to take a 72-51 lead into the fourth quarter. From there the Wolfpack cruised to the 97-74 victory.

Post Game

Ta’Niya Latson led Florida State with 23 points. O’Mariah Gordon finished with 20 while Makayla Timpson delivered 14 points, nine boards and four blocks.

NC State won this game in the first half. The Pack got out on the break for easy buckets. FSU had a lot of trouble containing NC State’s guards on the dribble drive as they got to the rim repeatedly. The Pack also crashed the glass scoring 23 second chance points to only five for the Noles. Finally, the Wolfpack feasted in the lane scoring a whopping 52 points in the paint.

Florida State’s defense simply couldn’t impact NC State in this game. The Pack got good shots all day leading to easy baskets while the Seminoles had work for almost all of their points.

In a vacuum, losing to a top 15 team isn’t the end of the world. However, Florida State is on the bubble for a coveted top 4 seed in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. Any loss at this point in the season is damaging in the race for a top 4 seed.

In terms of the ACC tournament, FSU has now fallen into a tie (UNC) for fifth place in the ACC standings. The good news is that three of the teams in front of the Seminoles are still remaining on the schedule. Notre Dame is likely out of reach as they remain undefeated in conference play. However, Duke and Louisville are right above FSU in the standings and the Noles will get the chance to play both of them in Tallahassee. The bad news is that Florida State will likely need to win both games to have a chance to secure a top 4 seed. In addition, the Noles will also have to beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta to make up for this loss.

Regarding the NCAA tournament, the main issue for Florida State is that the Q1 record stands at 1-4 after this loss. The committee is very unlikely to award the Seminoles a top 4 seed unless they can win more games against good teams. Unfortunately for FSU there aren’t a lot of opportunities left to get more Q1 wins which is another reason why this loss is so damaging.

The Noles have six games left in the regular season. The reality is that Florida State needs to go at least 5-1 in those games to secure a top 4 seed in the ACC tournament. If they can do that the Q1 record would likely stand at 3-5. Even in that favorable scenario, the Seminoles would certainly have to win a game in the ACC tournament and probably two in order to impress the committee enough to be rewarded with a top 4 seed.

Florida State is capable of reaching this goal but it won’t be easy and the Noles certainly made things tougher on themselves with today’s performance.

Next Game

Florida State will host Louisville on Thursday. The game will tip at 6pm and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.