Florida State overwhelmed Pittsburgh en route to an easy win over a former Seminoles assistant coach.
Ta’Niya Latson and Sara Bejedi each had 19 points as FSU cruised to a 74-37 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. Latson shot 6 of 16 from the floor and pulled down five rebounds with four assists. Bejedi shot 6 of 11 from the floor, including 3 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc, while adding five rebounds and four assists.
A freshman guard, Latson had 10 points in the third quarter as FSU outscored Pitt 30-9, extending its lead and putting away the Panthers.
Bejedi, a senior guard, has had a productive five game-stretch in which she has averaged 21.2 points.
While FSU (18-4, 7-2) was dominant on the offensive end of the court, the Seminoles frustrated Pitt thoroughly on defense. Makayla Timpson added six of FSU’s 12 blocks, while Taylor O’Brien and O’Mariah Gordon each had three of FSU’s 11 steals.
“We really took care of business on the defensive end,” FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “(It was) against a Pitt team that knows who they are defensively and are going to make things tough for us offensively. They certainly tried to do that in the first half. We didn’t let that deter our defensive focus and our ability to get rebounds.”
The Panthers shot just 12 of 76 (15.8 percent) FSU also forced Pitt to commit 17 turnovers. Pitt (7-12, 0-8) is coached by Lance White, who was an FSU assistant coach for 15 seasons until departing in the spring of 2018.
Mariana Valenzuela also had 11 points, drilling a trio of 3-pointers. Timpson added seven points and eight rebounds in addition to the six blocks.
While FSU is not ranked in the AP or coaches’ poll, the Seminoles are 16th in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
FSU plays at Notre Dame on Thursday at 8 p.m. (Bally Sports Florida and Regional Sports Networks).
The Seminoles are back home to face Duke next Sunday at 2 p.m. (ACC Network).
