March 20, 2010

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State used a 10-0 run over the final 90 seconds of the game to pull away and defeat Louisiana Tech 75-61 Saturday at the Donald L. Tucker Center in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament but the majority of the talk following the game center around Lady Techster forward Shanavia Dowdell.

The win sends Florida State (27-5) into a second round matchup against St. John's which defeated Princeton in its first round contest.

"First, congratulations to Florida State who is a very good basketball team," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "I am so proud of how my young ladies played. They played with every ounce of energy, effort and heart that we asked of them all season long. No one would ever imagine the battles that they have fought behind closed doors. Yet and still, they went between the four lines and played basketball.

"You cannot ask for more than that with these kids. I am super proud of the way we performed and the way we represented Louisiana Tech and the Lady Techster program, being back in the NCAA tournament, a place where we belong."

Dowdell, the two-time WAC Player of the Year, showed early and often that she belonged as she scored 22 of her game-high 28 points in the first half to lead LA Tech to a nine-point lead before foul trouble did what the Seminoles were unable to do - slow down Dowdell.

"Dowdell is a handful," said Florida State head coach Sue Semrau. "She is going to be a great player in the pros, and we just take our hats off to Louisiana Tech. They came out and played an exceptional basketball game."

With Tech leading 34-27, Dowdell - who had hit 10-of-11 field goals - was whistled for her third foul with 4:31 to play on an offensive foul call and sat the remainder of the half as Florida State took advantage tying the game at 40-40.

"Of course whenever a player fouls they don't think it was a foul, so I really don't think it was a foul," Dowdell said. "I think it was they had the momentum going and it just played into their hands. I don't think it was a foul. I just knew I had to come back in the second half and try to stay out of foul trouble."

Tech shot 50 percent (16-32) from the field in the opening half while outrebounding Florida State 23-15, including 12 offensive rebounds.

Florida State, which tried to guard LA Tech man-to-man in the first half, played entirely zone over the final 20 minutes of basketball and the change proved successful. With Dowdell sandwiched between two and three Seminoles, LA Tech hit only 5-of-30 field goals in the second half for 17 percent.

However, despite the poor shooting, Tech was in the game until the end.

Adrienne Johnson fouled out of the game with 5:51 to play and Tech trailing 61-53 and eventually the Seminoles pushed the advantage to 65-55 with 4:06 to play.

However, Tech scored six straight points as Jasmine Bendolph hit a three-pointer with 1:59 to play to cut the FSU advantage to 65-61.

"Our kids are fearless," Weatherspoon said. "It doesn't matter who they are going against. They feel like they are capable of defending and playing well. The ball must go in the basket, regardless. We do the best that we can defensively to keep people from their comfort zone.

"Our kids feel very comfortable playing against anyone. But the difference here is when we lose those two [Dowdell and Adrienne Johnson], when you look down our bench, we are not very big at all. So, it's very difficult to do things when those two are not on the floor."

After a timeout, FSU used a back-door play to free up Alexa Deluzio and Dowdell was whistled for her fifth and final foul. The Seminoles would hit 10-of-10 free throws in the final 1:39 of the game while Tech missed its final seven field goal attempts.

Dowdell recorded her 22nd double double of the season with 28 points and 12 rebounds while Bendolph added 11 points and four assists.

FSU was led by Malone and Courtney Ward with 16 points while Chasity Clayton and Deluzio each scored 10 points.

Tech was making its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance, its first since 2006.