No. 7 Florida State beats North Florida, 95-39 (Dec 19, 2016)

By AP
Published

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida State's first game in nine days was a breeze. Leticia Romero and company looked quite sharp in their return from their finals break.

Romero scored 22 points, and the seventh-ranked Seminoles rolled to a 95-39 victory over North Florida on Monday.

Florida State had six players score in double figures, led by Romero's third 20-point game of her senior season. Ivey Slaughter and Imani Wright each scored 14 points for the Seminoles (11-1), which have won 10 straight games for the eighth time in school history.

''This was the best week of finals practice we had since I've been here,'' said Florida State coach Sue Semrau, who is in her 20th season. ''They came back focused and ready to go. It's fun to coach when they are like that.''

The 56-point win is the eighth-largest in school history and marks the second straight year FSU defeated the Ospreys by more than 50. Florida State won last year's game by 52.

''A lot of times you come out rusty, turn over the ball a lot and miss shots. I liked the type of defensive intensity and turned it into points on the offensive end,'' Semrau said.

Florida State shot 52.1 percent (37 for 71) from the floor and had only seven turnovers. It forced North Florida into 28 turnovers and had a 34-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

A Claire Ioannidis 3-pointer gave North Florida a 3-2 lead before the Seminoles scored 14 straight points. Florida State led 52-17 at halftime.

Sierra Shepherd led the Ospreys (6-7) with 12 points, and Ioannidis added 11.

BIG PICTURE

North Florida: The Ospreys have not defeated Florida State in seven attempts and are 0-2 against Atlantic Coast Conference teams this season. They lost 78-52 at North Carolina State on Dec. 4.

Florida State: The Seminoles have had a lead of 21 points or more in all but one of the games during their winning streak. They remain the highest-scoring team in the ACC, averaging 84.1 points.

STREAKING ALONG

Since losing 78-76 to top-ranked UConn on Nov. 14, the Seminoles have won their last 10 by an average of 34.8 points. Five of those wins have come by 40 points or more.

During the winning streak, the Seminoles are shooting 50 percent from the field and averaging 87.1 points. They are holding opponents to 34.8 percent shooting and forcing 23.2 turnovers per game.

''Just by watching them all I was thinking was how good we were going to be. It was a game that really showed us where we were and what we could be,'' Romero said of the UConn game.

Romero missed the first two games of the season, including the loss to the Huskies, with a hamstring injury.

STAR WATCH

Shakayla Thomas, who came into the game leading Florida State in scoring at 14.8 points per game, had 12 points, marking the ninth time in 11 games she has scored in double figures. She is the team's active leader with 61 games of 10 points or more.

UP NEXT

North Florida: The Ospreys return home to face Wofford on Dec. 30.

Florida State: The Seminoles are at Mercer on Wednesday. The game will be a homecoming for Slaughter, who grew up in Macon, Georgia.

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