FSU women hold on for 83-73 win over No. 9 North Carolina
Jacinta Monroe scored 16 points and visiting No. 13 Florida State held on to beat ninth-ranked North Carolina 83-73 on Monday night after nearly blowing a 19-point lead.
Courtney Ward added 13 points for FSU (19-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which had its big second-half lead whittled all the way down to a point three times in the final minutes. But the Seminoles put together an eight-point spurt in the final 3 minutes to finally pull away, sealing their first win in Chapel Hill since the 2000-01 season.
“We talked about it before the game — the team that was more mentally tough was the team that was going to win the basketball game,” Florida State coach Sue Semrau said in a news release. “They put their mind to it. It was good for them to be rewarded.”
Italee Lucas scored 20 points to lead UNC (16-4, 4-2), which dug a big hole for itself early in the second half.
Monroe was huge for FSU all night, finishing with 17 rebounds and two blocked shots in 34 minutes. She hit a pair of free throws with the Seminoles clinging to a 66-65 lead with 3:04 left to start the decisive run.
