FSU women push for first Final Four bid
TALLAHASSEE — Longtime Florida State women’s basketball coach Sue Semrau has no intention of coming back to Tallahassee until after the Final Four.
The Seminoles left campus Thursday afternoon for Stockton, Calif., one of four regionals of the Women’s NCAA Tournament, with hopes of making the deepest run in school history.
No. 3-seed FSU (27-6) faces No. 2 Oregon State (31-4) in the Sweet 16 today with a shot at its third Elite Eight, and first since 2015, on the line.
If FSU wins, it will face the winner of No. 1 South Carolina versus No. 12 Quinnipiac with hopes of reaching the first Final Four in program history.
The Seminoles have no plans of returning to Tallahassee from Stockton, and will travel directly to Dallas if they advance to the Final Four.
But before getting to ahead of themselves, Semrau hopes her seniors can keep the rest of the team centered on the task at hand.
“We’ve talked about what we’ve learned from years past from this experience and put that behind us,” Semrau said Wednesday. “We’ve talked about what lies ahead, what we need to do and really are just focusing on the now.”
Florida State is among one of the top programs in the country under Semrau’s leadership, making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in 13 years. Semrau has been at the school for 20 seasons.
The Seminoles are one of seven teams nationally to make three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, joining UConn, Texas, Notre Dame, Stanford, Baylor and South Carolina.
Behind ACC Player of the Year Shakayla Thomas, Olympic silver medalist Leticia Romero and seniors Ivey Slaughter and Brittany Brown, the Seminoles have welcomed transfers Imani Wright, from Baylor, and ACC Sixth Player of the year Chatrice White, from Illinois, into the fold to boast one of the most wellrounded teams in the nation.
“[We] have the confidence to know that we can compete,” Wright said, “and we have a really good shot this year.”
FSU took its quarterfinal loss to rival Miami in the ACC Tournament to heart before the NCAA Tournament began, but the Seminoles believe the defeat was a blessing in disguise.
Florida State entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed in the Stockton Region and not a No. 2 in Bridgeport Region with No. 1 overall seed Connecticut, giving the Seminoles a more ideal path to the Final Four.
The Seminoles dominated their opponents in the first two rounds at home in the Donald L. Tucker Center, beating Western Illinois by 21 points and Missouri by 22 points.
“I think we wanted to make a statement in the first and second rounds that we can play with the best of the best,” Slaughter said, “and I think we did that.”
Oregon State’s size could present an issue for the Seminoles, with nine of the team’s 12 players taller than 6 feet. FSU has five 6-footers, led by Slaughter (6-1), White (6-3) and senior backup center Kai James (6-5).
Six-foot guard Sydney Wiese (15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game) and 6-foot-5 center Marie Gulich (10 points, 8.2 rebounds per game) are Oregon State’s leading scorers.
The Seminoles hope their shortcomings in previous Sweet 16 appearances will be the fuel that propels them to the first Final Four in school history.
“We had so many opportunities to go further, and go to the Final Four and do big things,” Slaughter said. “We’re keeping it in the back of our mind that this is our second season, a chance to leave our mark at Florida State.”