The Florida State women’s basketball team has had its share of struggles this year. Despite the struggles, the Seminoles still pushed forward as they welcomed a conference foe in Virginia Tech to the Donald L. Tucker Center for a Thursday night game.
This was FSU’s second conference game of the season, having dropped the first ACC game against Notre Dame early in December. The result was the same on Thursday as the ’Noles were blown out 79-54 by the Hokies.
Jasmine Shavers had 19 points, while Allie Kubek had eight points and seven rebounds for FSU (4-9, 0-2 ACC).
“The break is coming at a great time,” FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “We can hopefully get our players healthy and back to as full strength as we can and just continue to improve our defense. I don’t have any great answers for it but hopefully being a little more healthy when we get back.”
Coming into the game, the Seminoles were without the services of senior guard Sydney Bowles and junior guard Emma Risch, who were both nursing injuries sustained in previous games. The timetable for their return is uncertain, so FSU will be shorthanded offensively, which was shown to the crowd at the Tucker Center Thursday night.
The Seminoles shot 28 percent from the field on Thursday, turned it over 15 times and only managed five assists. Not many wins will be on the schedule if that performance is repeated by FSU. Those kinds of stats tell the story of how this team has played this season and the record reflects that.
FSU struggled mightily from the start as Virginia Tech (10-3, 1-1) jumped out to a quick 18-4 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter. To make matters worse, junior guard Solé Williams went down with an injury towards the end of the first half and did not return, adding to the ever-growing injury list.
“It’s discouraging, there’s no two ways about it,” said Wyckoff. “It’s really tough to know that you’ve got teammates injured, we’re not at full strength, it’s an important game and they just have to choose to fight, and they did. I was proud of the players that were out there, I really believe they gave it their all. And it’s hard, but you have a choice.”
One choice coach Wyckoff had to make was to put her only freshman out on the court for extended minutes as the injuries piled up. Freshman guard Mari Gerton has seen some action this year but her 16 minutes played on Thursday night against the Hokies was the most she has played in a game so far. Gerton definitely played like a freshman at times, only finishing with two points, two assists and one turnover. One thing she isn’t lacking is effort.
Games like Thursday are good opportunities for Wyckoff to teach some of the younger players about adversity when getting pummeled at home in front of the home crowd. Wyckoff pulled Gerton aside during a timeout and was visibly animated in her communication with Gerton.
“She’s doing great,” Wyckoff said. “It’s tough being the only freshman but she’s such a smart player. She’s a great basketball player and that’s why I just wanted to challenge her, just be solid. You know exactly what to do out there, it’s hard, it’s not going to be easy and that was just kind of my message to her in that moment. Just fight to do what’s right and do it to the best of your ability.”
The Seminoles will play their last non-conference game of the season on Saturday against South Carolina State, before they break for Christmas and New Year's to re-start ACC play.
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