Shooting woes in the first quarter and a defensive struggle in the fourth quarter cost No. 15 Florida State women’s basketball (14-6, 5-3 ACC) its Sunday matchup against Virginia (9-9, 1-6), getting upset by the Cavaliers, 91-87, in front of 2,081 fans at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.
Coming into the game, Virginia was 1-49 in its last 50 games against ranked opponents and had not won in Tallahassee since February 2012. Freshman guard Kymora Johnson was the difference maker as she threw down a career-high 35 points, shooting 14-of-20 from the field.
“Even though she’s a freshman, obviously she’s very talented and strong and physical,” FSU head coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “That was something we struggled with was just her physicality and her size. We let her kind of get a rhythm. Off the dribble, a talented player like that is hard to guard.
One of her final scores of the night was to give Virginia a two-possession lead back in the final 30 seconds of the game. Johnson set three career highs against the Seminoles in points, minutes (35) and field goals made (14). Before Sunday her career high was 26 points in a 82-56 win over Fordham on Dec. 21, 2023.
“She just brought her hesitation and midrange game,” junior forward Makayla Timpson said. “She’s a great player, her midrange is pretty deadly and she was hard to guard. She made some free throws and 3-point shots, which we weren’t able to defend down the stretch.”
Virginia shot 47.1 % from 3-point range, knocking down 8-of-17 attempts. Overall, the Cavaliers shot 16% higher from 3-point range and 15% higher from the field than FSU’s opponents have averaged this season.
It’s the second straight game the Seminoles opponent has shot for over 40% from the field and 47% from 3-point range. FSU also allowed more than 20 points in the fourth quarter for the second straight game. Its prior loss was to Syracuse on Thursday, 79-73, where the Orange outscored the Seminoles 25-11 in the fourth quarter.
“The similarity is we couldn’t get it done in the second half defensively,” Wyckoff said. “That’s on us and we’ve got to change that. We had a phenomenal second quarter, but just allowing a team to hang around and to gain confidence is just not a good recipe to win games.”
FSU struggled to shoot in the first quarter falling into an early 11-1 hole and finishing the quarter shooting 27.3% from the field. The Seminoles cleaned up their offense in the second quarter, improving to 34% shooting from the field by halftime and taking a 43-39 lead.
However, in the second half, FSU struggled to get critical stops. Virginia scored 52 combined points in the final 20 minutes of the game. The Seminoles could still score as sophomore guard Ta’Niya Latson finished with 22 points, Timpson had 21 points and junior guard O’Mariah Gordon had 17 points.
“My teammates were able to pass the ball to me, be able to score and be a threat down the stretch,” Timpson said. “We tried to get the win today, but it just wasn’t enough. Number 21 [Johnson] was a good player and she took control of the game for her team.”
The Seminoles fall to 14-6 on the year and 5-3 in ACC play. It begins a week on the road at Duke (12-6, 4-3) on Thursday at 6 p.m. On Sunday, the Blue Devils fell to No. 4 NC State, 72-57.
“What we did this week wasn’t enough,” Wyckoff said. “Our players understand that and are well aware and ready to switch that. We want. to get back to defending and playing hard and gritty. It’s going to take that on the road for sure.”
ACC standings
*AP Poll ranking in parentheses.
(RV) Syracuse 16-2, 6-1
(No. 23) North Carolina 14-5, 6-1
(No. 13) Louisville 16-3, 5-1
(No. 19) Notre Dame 14-3, 5-2
(No. 14) Virginia Tech 16-2, 5-2
(No. 4) NC State 16-2, 4-2
(No. 15) Florida State 14-6, 5-3
Georgia Tech 13-6, 4-3
Duke 12-6, 4-3
Boston College 11-9, 3-4
Miami 12-5, 2-4
Virginia 9-9, 1-6
Clemson 8-11, 1-6
Pittsburgh 6-13, 0-6
Wake Forest 4-15, 0-7
Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams.