Gillespie leads No. 8 Florida State women past Miami 73-62

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Florida State quickly shook off the possible carryover effect from its first loss of the season.

Kiah Gillespie scored 21 points to lead the No. 8 Seminoles to a 73-62 victory over No. 23 Miami on Sunday.

Gillespie shot 8 of 11 from the field as the Seminoles (14-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) rebounded from their loss Thursday at Syracuse. The Orange defeated Florida State on a buzzer-beating shot, 90-89.

“The mood was pretty much short-term memory,” Gillespie said. “Even after the shot went in, I just told myself I have to let this game go. By drawing on it and being upset about it isn’t going to change anything. It was one tough loss.

“I couldn’t let that weigh on my conscience. (The shot) was everywhere. Social media cleanliness and just move on to the next game.”

Morgan Jones scored a season-high 16 points and Nicki Ekhomu finished with 15 points for Florida State. Nausia Woolfolk was the Seminoles’ fourth scorer in double figures with 11 points.

“You get to a point in winter break that it’s time to get back into a routine,” Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. “Going up to Syracuse, which is geographically at the top of the conference, and Miami, which is geographically at the bottom of the conference, I was pleased we came out with the win.”

The Seminoles finished the first half on a 13-1 run. Ekhomu scored eight points during the spurt, and her 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining gave Florida State a 39-26 lead at halftime.

The Hurricanes (9-5, 1-2) rallied from an 18-point third-quarter deficit and got within 54-47 on Brianna Jackson’s layup with 8:42 remaining in the fourth quarter before Florida State responded with seven unanswered points.

Jones scored seven points in the final 2:43 as the Seminoles maintained their double-digit advantage.

“We still have a lot of room for improvement,” Semrau said. “We’ve got some good scorers on our team. You look at Morgan Jones and what she was able to do today.”

Miami center and preseason ACC Player of the Year Beatrice Mompremier missed the game because of a foot injury.

“We’re on the ropes, we’re missing players,” Miami coach Katie Meier said. “In general, in terms of playing hard, they came through for me.”

Mykea Gray scored 21 points for the Hurricanes.

WINNING TREND

The Seminoles have won 10 of their last 11 regular-season games against Miami. The Hurricanes’ only victory during the stretch was a 64-54 home win on Feb. 24, 2019. In addition to the current streak, Florida State is 27-9 against the Hurricanes since 2004-05.

MOMPREMIER UPDATE

Missing Mompremier for an extended period could prove costly for the Hurricanes. Mompremier, who played with the injury in Miami’s 61-54 loss at Georgia Tech on Thursday, averages a team-leading 16 points and 10 rebounds per game.

“The timeframe is absolutely unknown,” Meier said of Mompremier’s return. “It’s going to be a symptomatic thing. It’s not career-threatening by any stretch of the imagination. We’re going to protect her. We want to make sure she’s 100 percent and that’s our job.”

BIG PICTURE

Florida State: The Seminoles’ dominance on the boards ended against Miami, which had a 36-33 rebounding edge. The Seminoles had outrebounded their first 14 opponents.

Miami: The Hurricanes are 0-3 in home games against nationally ranked teams. Miami lost 75-53 to No. 7 Oregon State on Nov. 29 and No. 14 Indiana beat the Hurricanes 58-45 on Dec. 4.

UP NEXT

Florida State: The Seminoles return home and face Georgia Tech on Thursday.

Miami: The Hurricanes will play the second of a three-game homestand against No. 7 Louisville on Thursday.