SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 24 Florida State (23-6, 13-4) handed No. 3 Notre Dame (24-4, 15-2) its first home conference loss of the season on Thursday night, as the Seminoles topped the Irish, 86-81. Sonia Citron paced Notre Dame with 21 points, and Liatu King had 17 points and 11 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the year.
Maddy Westbeld got the scoring started with a triple before Notre Dame went into pick-your-poison mode, as the team so often does. Seven players scored in the first quarter, led by Hannah Hidalgo’s 6 points. The Seminoles struggled to get anything going, shooting 20 percent from the floor in the first frame (4-20). The nation’s leading scorer, Ta’Niya Latson, was 1-4 from the floor.
Notre Dame started the second quarter on a 6-0 run before Florida State took over. The Seminoles went on a 21-3 run, seemingly getting every roll while also going 6-8 from beyond the arc. Florida State outscored Notre Dame 30-17 in the second quarter and took a 44-40 lead into the locker room.
Citron came out of the locker room and scored 5 quick points, as she has taken over in the third quarter multiple times this season. King added 5 more to bring Notre Dame to within a couple of points before Notre Dame retook the lead on a Citron layup. The Seminoles responded with a 10-0 run, as Notre Dame went 0-7 to end the third quarter. Florida State had a 67-57 lead leading into the fourth.
Citron notched the first basket of the Irish effort for the second straight quarter. Notre Dame kept fighting and started the fourth on a 9-0 run before Mikayla Timpson hit a turnaround jumper for the visitors. From there, the Seminoles and Latson asserted themselves with an 11-4 run and ultimately held on.
Notre Dame closes out the regular season with No. 25 Louisville on Sunday. College GameDay will be on site at Purcell Pavilion, and Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli will be on the call for the noon ESPN game.