Freshmen Lead #WBB at No. 25/24 Florida State

Monday, December 16

Tallahassee, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

2-7

Florida State

9-1

North Florida

Florida State

12/16/2013 9:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – University of North Florida women's basketball held No. 25/24 Florida State to its fewest points against a non-ranked team thus far in the 2013-14 season, while freshmen Bailey Florin, Amber Robinson and Flo Ward accounted for most of the Ospreys' points in the 61-42 loss.

"This team battled tonight and I'm proud of the way we competed against one of the top programs in the nation," said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. "Our bench, especially the freshmen, were huge for us and it was great having that depth come alive tonight. Also, Kira [Larkira Jones] did a fantastic job at anchoring our defense."

Florin and Robinson each scored 10 points, while Ward added in nine. Jones pulled down a team-best five rebounds and had one block, while freshman Janeá Williams pulled down four boards and made two blocks.

UNF shot 32.6 percent (15-for-46) from the field.

Ivey Slaughter posted a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Natasha Howard added 18 points for Florida State.

The Seminoles shot 36.7 percent (18-for-49) from the floor and went 22-for-33 from the foul line. Florida State also held a 38-27 advantage in rebounds.

Prior to Monday, only then-No. 4/3 Louisville and then-No. 25 Michigan State had held Florida State to fewer points than 61. Additionally, UNF is the first non-major team to keep Florida State to less than 70 points.

Florida State began the game on an 11-0 run and the Ospreys saw the Seminoles go up by as many as 12, taking a 17-5 lead at 11:05 on two free throws from Brittany Brown. UNF fought back and used t 6-1 run to pull to within seven. Ward hit two treys during that run, including one at 6:55 to make it 18-11. Florida State regained a 12-point advantage behind a five-point run to take a 23-11 lead at 4:02. The Ospreys' trimmed Florida State's lead down to seven twice and a free throw by Robinson at 49 seconds made it 24-17. A layup from Howard and a Yashira Delgado jumper ended the half as Florida State had a 28-17 lead at halftime.

However, a 13-5 start to the second half allowed Florida State to pull away from the Ospreys as UNF trailed at 43-22 at 13:05. UNF attempted to chip away at the Seminoles' lead. After Florida State went up 57-35 on a pair of Slaughter foul shots, back-to-back threes from Octavia Langston and Florin brought the Ospreys' deficit down to 16 points at 4:14 as Florida State held a 57-41 lead. That was the closest UNF could get for the remainder of the game as Slaughter hit four more free throws, while Conner hit one.

UNF finishes nonconference play with the Hampton Inn Holiday Classic that takes places Friday and Saturday at UNF Arena. The Ospreys face Air Force on Friday at 3:30 p.m., and then Georgia Southern on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.