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Hoops: FSU women host Arkansas on Thursday

Bob Ferrante

Ultimate Seminole Insider
Staff
May 10, 2022
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FSU sports information:

The inaugural ACC/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge presented by Dixie Ultra tips off on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Tucker Center between No. 15 Florida State (5-1) and Arkansas (6-1). The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The event is a Faculty and Staff Appreciation Game, where if you show a valid FSU staff ID you can receive two complimentary tickets.

Overall, there will be a combined 14 matchups in the challenge from Wednesday-Thursday featuring 11 Top 25 squads, including six from the ACC and five from the SEC.

Thursday’s matchup could be a fast one inside The Tuck. The Seminoles are 13th nationally averaging 88.0 points and play at a pace where each team averages 81.3 possessions per 40 minutes. The Razorbacks, which also plays their brand of positionless basketball, average 75.1 points and play at a pace where each team averages 76.5 possessions per 40 minutes.

Arkansas will be the third SEC opponent on FSU’s schedule this season, with the Seminoles owning a 2-0 mark against No. 11 Tennessee (92-91 on Nov. 9) and rival Florida (79-75 on Nov. 17). In the ACC, FSU is the only team to play four Power 5 schools so far (Tennessee, Florida, Northwestern, Stanford), although No. 5 NC State has played three Power 5 schools in addition to UConn.

Last week’s Feast Week included a 1-1 split against Northwestern (90-52) and No. 4 Stanford (88-100) at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas. Junior guard O’Mariah Gordon led FSU averaging 16.5 points while shooting 44 percent overall (11-of-25) and 50 percent from 3 (5-of-10).

Sophomore guard Ta’Niya Latson’s 35 points on the road at Florida continues to be a season high for all ACC players. In that game, she delivered 17 of her 35 points in the fourth quarter, going 5-of-5 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Yet another dominant performance by the sophomore caught the attention of many on social media, including NBA superstar Kevin Durant.

Florida State is second in the ACC in scoring offense (88.0), 3-point field goal percentage (37.1%), assist/turnover ratio (1.29) and 3-point field goals made per game (8.7).

FSU’s opponents that it has played so far have a combined 19-8 record (.704) this season, highlighting the rigorous non-conference slate.

Makayla Timpson joins only Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley and Pitt’s Liatu King in being in the ACC’s Top 10 in blocked shots, field goal percentage AND rebounding.
 
Cold-shooting 1Q for FSU and Arkansas

Gordon is 1 for 8 from the floor
 
On the bright side, we can’t possibly play any worse than we did in the first half right?

Having Gordon back in should help. Offense looks better with her running point.
 
Arkansas is not a good team, so being down 16 is shocking. We have no energy on defense and no movement on offense.
 
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