Ta’Niya Latson scores 28 and Florida State tops George Mason 94-59 in March Madness
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Ta’Niya Latson scored 28 points and sixth-seeded Florida State defeated George Mason on Saturday night in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
“Ta’Niya led us with not only her scoring but the way she just wasn’t to be denied,” Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “She hit the floor a bunch of times just scrambling to get the ball and make sure we had the possession. She rebounded and I’m just really, really proud of how she led us.”
Mikayla Timpson had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Seminoles (24-8), who advanced to play No. 3 seed LSU in the second round on Monday night.
Latson, the nation’s leading scorer, sat out several games in February with an undisclosed injury. But she looked in form on the heels of a two-week break since the Seminoles’ ouster from the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on March 7.
“I felt good during practice — got my groove back from injury,” Latson said. “That was something I wanted to harp on, being good in practice so it can translate into the game.”
Paula Suarez scored a career-high 25 points in her final college game and Kennedy Harris added 12 points for George Mason (27-6), which was making its first March Madness appearance after winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
“We are here for a reason. We know we can beat them,” Suarez said. “They just — I don’t know if it’s like maybe the physicality or the athleticism and they just started making a lot of shots — and we weren’t playing our best offense.”
Florida State led by as many as 20 points in the middle of the second quarter, but George Mason pulled within seven in the third period when the second of Suarez’s back-to-back 3s made it 49-42.
Wyckoff called timeout at that point, and the Seminoles responded with a 10-0 run during which O’Mariah Gordon scored five points on a fast-break layup and corner 3.
“We needed to turn up the intensity defensively,” Wyckoff said. “When we do that, our defense leads to our offense. That’s what sparks those runs.”
Jada Brown’s fast-break 3 pulled George Mason back within 10 points at the end of the third quarter, but the Seminoles again pulled away with a 12-0 run to open the fourth quarter.
Sydney Bowles’ fourth 3 of the game began the decisive spurt. Gordon added a pair of layups and Timpson scored twice inside, once while being fouled for a 3-point play.
Gordon finished with 18 points and Bowles had 15 on 5-of-5 shooting from deep.
“We knew we were going to have to, over time, just impose our will with our pace, defensive intensity and wear our opponent down,” Wyckoff said. “This team knew what they had to do to finish this game and they did it really well.”
Takeaways
George Mason: Staying within striking distance through three quarters made for a solid NCAA Tournament debut for the Patriots before they faded in the final period.
“The outcome of this game does not define who they are,” coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said. “They have put a legacy in place at Mason. … That can never be taken away.”
Florida State: The Seminoles are tournament regulars and looked like it when they dominated down the stretch. Florida State is part of March Madness for a 12th straight time and has appeared in 19 of the past 20 NCAA Tournaments.
It was the first NCAA Tournament victory for Wyckoff, now in her third full season after taking over on an interim basis during the 2020-21 season.
“Feels great,” Wyckoff said. “But I just credit this team … with the work they put in all season.”
Key stat
Latson eclipsed her average of 24.9 points coming in. Against George Mason, she made eight of 16 shots and went 11 of 14 on foul shots.
“She’s exactly who they said she was: leading scorer the nation,” Blair-Lewis said. “There were times during the game that you just enjoy watching really good basketball. She’s a great player. Great player for our game. She’s going to be a joy to watch for some years to come.”
Up next
Florida State plays in the second round for the first time since 2019. The Seminoles have not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2017.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
