FSU basketball dominates North Florida in home opener

Florida State women's basketball made a statement in its season opener on Monday. The Seminoles took down North Florida in a dominating fashion, 119-49.

FSU's 119 points are now the school's single-season record. The Seminoles went on a shooting spree from start to finish, shooting 46.6 percent from the field and shit 15 three-pointers, which tied its record.

Five different Seminoles finished in double figures, with Ta'Niya Latson leading the way with 27 points, and added three steals defensively. Her 27-point performance moved her to 14th FSU history in career points scored, with 1,391.

“Great first game and this is exactly how I would have wished to start the season,” FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said after the game.

“Obviously, we scored a lot of points, and we did a lot of good things statistically, but I just told the team in the locker room their mentality, their buy-in, the way that they came out from beginning to end of the game. Just the way that they used their hearts and minds to get this win was what I was most proud of, so it's a great first step, and we obviously, have a lot more to do this season, but I loved our mentality.”

FSU's senior big Makayla Timpson also had a day at the Donald Tucker Civic Center.

She recorded her 32nd double-double, finishing with 17 points and 22 boards, which ranks her second all-time in FSU history. She also added four assists, four steals, and three blocked shots.

“It was just great," Timpson said after the game.

"This is my first and last home official game, so I just came out and set a statement for my team so I could be able to do what I love to do with them, and just be able to be who I am and just going in from the jump, like being able to be aggressive on the rebounds, aggressive scoring so that allowed me to be who I was today.”

Texas A&M transfer Sydney Bowles, who made her FSU debut, was FSU's second-leading scorer with 18 points, coming off the bench, and was 4 for 7 from the 3-point line.

Senior guard O'Maria Gordon added 15 points and Avery Treadwell had 14 points.

With a 1-0 start, the Seminoles will play their road game on Thursday to face Illinois. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at [email protected] or on X @_Da_pistol.