FSU’s balance wins out

Florida State escaped John Paul Jones Arena with something no program this season can stake claim to: a victory.

Surviving a helter-skelter finish, Florida State made six free throws in the final 21 seconds to upset 16th-ranked Virginia.

The loss snapped the Cavaliers’ 12-game home winning streak, a mark that dates back a full season.

“You have to win your home games and my team knows that,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “We have to do a much better job defensively.”

The victory gave the Seminoles (17-4, 5-0 ACC) their second straight win over a top 25 program.

That appeared in doubt after Virginia (14-4, 2-2) mounted a furious rally that all but vanished in the final minute after the Cavaliers missed a free throw with 59 seconds and three of its final four shots from the field.

Perhaps the biggest miss for the Cavaliers came with 23 seconds left and Florida State leading 74-73, when forward Lyndra Littles missed an open jumper in transition that led to the free-throw shooting party for the Seminoles.

“It was funny because [Littles] kinda looked at me for a second, but she had the open shot,” said Ryan, who labored in the locker room preaching to her players about their defensive woes. “That goes in 99 percent of the time.”

Virginia had to fight to get back into the contest in the second half after the Seminoles caught fire from behind the 3-point line.

The Cavaliers, who shot 38.6 percent from the field, trimmed the one-time double-digit deficit late in the first half in a charitable fashion: at the free-throw line.

Florida State certainly helped in that venture. In fact, Florida State reserve Cierra Bravard was whistled for a personal foul and promptly then a technical foul with 5:05 left, which led to four successful free throws for the Cavaliers and cut the Seminoles’ lead to 67-66.

For the game, the Cavaliers shot 81.8 percent from the charity stripe (27 of 33). Virginia junior Monica Wright was the biggest culprit as she made all 12 attempts from the free-throw line.

“I know we didn’t shoot the ball, but we did from the free-throw line,” Ryan said.

FSU took an early lead after the opening tip, scoring five of the game’s first eight points, but the Seminoles went scoreless for almost three minutes. That drought allowed Virginia to race out to a 13-5 lead with a 10-0 run capped by Littles’ third 3-pointer with 16:03 left.

The teams exchanged scoring runs and the Cavaliers eventually took their largest lead of the first half, at 29-20, when Littles drained a pair of free throws with 7:28 left.

“I felt like Virginia really had their way in the first half,” FSU coach Sue Semrau said.

The Seminoles, who forced Virginia into 10 first-half turnovers, slowly cut into the deficit in the final minutes of the opening half as Alysha Harvin sparked the rally with seven points.

UVa did not give up its advantage, however, until Florida State guard Courtney Ward banked in a desperation 3-pointer over Virginia rookie Ariana Moorer from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, tying the game at 38 at halftime.

The Seminoles closed the half on an 8-2 run.

“That hurt us a lot,” Ryan said.

For the game, all five Seminoles scored in double figures, paced by Ward’s 18-point effort. FSU, which had three players foul out, also shot 47.6 percent from behind the 3-point line (10 for 21).

“We did take advantage of [our 3-point shooting], but that’s not our game plan,” Semrau said. “We don’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers. The fact that we hit 10, that’s nice.”

Virginia returns to action Monday at Clemson at 7 p.m.

Layups

Virginia guard Britnee Millner was chopped across the throat with 12:08 left in the first half and had to be helped off the court and to the bench. The senior returned to the court with 5:40 left in the opening half. … Both teams had just 11 points from their bench players.