No. 21 Florida State vs No. 11 Virginia Tech | ACC | 1.14.24

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  – Florida State vs Virginia Tech

Written by Edward Klinsport | Seminoles.com

The No. 21 Florida State Women's Basketball team (14-4, 5-1) won against No. 11 Virginia Tech (13-3, 4-1) in an 89-81 thriller on Sunday at the Tucker Center. Fifth-year guard Sara Bejedi punctuated the performance with a career-high 31 points.

The win finishes a 2-0 week for the Seminoles against AP Top 20 opponents, as FSU defeated No. 20 UNC 70-62 at the Tucker Center on Thursday before delivering another eight-point win over reigning NCAA Women's Final Four Team Virginia Tech.

"That's a huge win against a really good Virginia Tech team," FSU Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff said. "I felt like at some points in the game we didn't have answers for what they were doing – they're so good. But our team responded. They never let up, they kept believing… We had a down second quarter but when we came out of halftime, our team was relentless."

Bejedi not only led the Noles in scoring, but also set new career highs in field goals made (9) and free throws attempted (12). She also matched her career highs in rebounds (8), 3-pointers made (5), and free throws made (8). She delivered 16 of her 30 points in a second half where the Seminoles shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the floor.

The Helsinki, Finland, native was in attack mode all game, drawing 10 fouls.

Sophomore Ta'Niya Latson passed 1,000 career points late in the game, tying for the fastest Seminole ever to reach the milestone in what was just her 48th career game played. FSU all-time scoring leader Sue Galkantas also reach 1,000 points in her 48th game in the 1981-82 season.

The sophomore guard scored 20 points (5-of-12) and made 9-of-14 from the foul line. Her late free throws helped to ice the seventh AP Top 25 win in Wyckoff's short tenure. It is also FSU's third AP Top 25 win of the season.

Besides Bejedi's 31 and Latson's 20, the Seminoles had other players reach double figure scoring during today's game, including O'Mariah Gordon and Makayla Timpson scoring 17 and 18 points, respectively.

Timpson added four big blocked shots in the game, including one with 32 seconds left that virtually iced the win with the Seminoles leading 86-79. She had the challenge of going up against two-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, who had 30 points on 28 shots with five assists.

The first quarter was a mostly one-sided matchup, where FSU kept the lead out of reach of Virginia Tech to finish the first 27-19. On the Seminoles' side, Bejedi dominated the first quarter scoring 14 points, going 4-of-6 on fields goals and a near perfect 5-of-6 from the foul line.

The second quarter was a much closer contest, as the Hokies outscored the Seminoles 27-13 in the quarter to bring their halftime lead to 46-40 over FSU. Gordon led Florida State in scoring during the second, adding five to her nine points in the first half.

Virginia Tech kept their momentum going into the second half; however, FSU did not let them take the advantage. The Noles, despite being down 64-65, outscored the Hokies 24-19 in the third quarter. Bejedi continued to lead in scoring, adding nine points in the third to increase her total to 24.

FSU would go on to out-score the Hokies 25-16 in a fourth quarter where it shot 53.8 percent. Latson recorded 11 points in the fourth.

The Seminoles travel to Syracuse to continue the team's ACC play against the Orange. Tip-off is set for Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. and is available to stream via ACCNX.