Florida State women's basketball: Seminoles blow out Bethune-Cookman in season opener. Here's our takeaways
Florida State women's basketball wasted no time in showing off its dynamic offense.
After scoring unofficial school records of 119 (Flagler) and 115 (West Georgia) in exhibitions last week, the Seminoles came close to breaking the record officially, roasting the Bethune-Cookman defense 113-50 in the season opening victory Monday at Donald L. Tucker Center.
A crowd of 3,597 for the 11 a.m. tip-off in the program's annual Education Game for area grade schoolers watched FSU (1-0) take down the Wildcats (0-1) in the official coaching debut for Brooke Wyckoff with the Seminoles.
Wyckoff has in the past gone 10-9 in an interim basis during the 2020-21 season.
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The 113 points are the second most in a single-game in program history. The record of 114 against Stetson set on Feb. 6, 1991 still stands. FSU has twice scored 110 points.
Two newcomers led the attack for the Seminoles.
Freshman sensation and former 5-star prospect Ta'Niya Latson made her presence felt early and often, finishing with a game-high 28 points and added nine rebounds.
Graduate transfer guard Taylor O'Brien scored 12 of her 19 points in the third quarter. She converted two-and-ones on layups and connected on a 3-pointer.
"I'm just so proud to be sitting up here, still being a part of Florida State Women's basketball and just as proud as ever to be a part of it," Wyckoff said. "And especially to be up here with these two newbies. ... I am just so proud of both of them for what they brought to this team."
Makayla Timpson added 23 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with three blocks.
The Seminoles are now 2-0 all-time against Bethune-Cookman, also defeating them 103-34. They are now 121-32 against non-conference opponents in the last 10 seasons.
FSU has won 28 of 29 openers and is 41-10 all-time in season-opening games.
Jaz Massengill was ruled out of the game due to a lower body injury.
Dynamic debut for Latson
The freshman and former 5-star recruit was aggressive out of the gates, scoring the first six points for the Seminoles.
At halftime, she led the team with 15 points and continued her scoring assault in the second half, finishing with 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals.
She shot 10 for 22 from the field, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range.
Latson was able to show off her athleticism in her collegiate debut. She stole a rebound over the Wildcats' defender on a missed free throw, collected herself and drove to the hoop to draw a foul in the fourth quarter.
She reached the free throw line eight times and scored on seven of the attempts.
Latson admitted there were some nerves at the beginning of the game, as she made just one of her first four shots.
"It felt good," Latson said. "Honestly, everybody's a little nervous, especially for our first game. But I think we settled in around the end of the first quarter."
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High-powered offense
Five different FSU players scored in double-figures and all nine of the players to get into the game scored at least two points. Latson led the way with her 28, but Timpson added a career-high 23 of her own.
O'Brien finished third with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and Erin Howard added 15 points and 17 rebounds. Sara Bejedi finished with 14 points and six assists before fouling out in the fourth.
O'Brien led the way with a plus-minus score of plus-56, while Latson (plus-52) and Timpson (plus-48) also posted strong numbers.
The Seminoles scored 70 points in the paint and averaged 1.361 points per possession, scoring on 54 of their 83 possessions.
"It's very high tempo, very high pace," O'Brien said. "And I think that's just the way we want to play. With everybody being such a big threat on offense and defense, we're destined to do really big things this year."
They also added 26 offensive rebounds and finished with 27 second chance points.
One aspect to improve on for the Seminoles is likely the 3-point shooting. FSU is expected to take a lot of shots beyond the arc this season, but struggled a bit Monday, despite good looks, shooting 6-of-26 (23.1%).
"We just keep shooting," Wyckoff said. "And that's why we just have complete confidence. Everybody on the team has the green light, if they're open, to let it go. We practice every single day, we get lots of shots up.
"They know that those aren't bad shots. We'll just go and get the rebounds, that's really what all we can do. I'm just happy we've got players that are confident and can do multiple things, (like attack the basket and shoot as well."
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Defense into offense
FSU forced 22 turnovers, scoring 38 points off them and finished with 22 points off the fastbreak.
The Seminoles scored 24 points in the first half off turnovers, building a 55-19 halftime lead.
Howard and O'Brien each finished with four steals to lead the team. The team finished with a total of 16 steals and nine blocks.
Timpson was strong at the rim, blocking three shots, while Latson and Brianna Turnage each added two blocks a piece.
Up next:
The Seminoles travel to Kent, Ohio to take on Kent State at 7 p.m. Thursday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Seminoles women's basketball comes cose to breaking scoring record vs. Bethune-Cookman
