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Makayla Timpson makes history as FSU women's basketball beats Wake Forest in ACC Tournament

Forward Makayla Timpson wrote her name into No. 6 Florida State women's basketball history as the program's all-time single-season double-double leader.

Her efforts led the Seminoles to a 70-53 win over No. 14 Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

"I'm Just very, very proud of this team for getting this second-round win, but first for us," FSU head coach Brooke Wyckoff said. "We knew this had to be a different story this year coming in, and I'm just proud of the way we persevered. March is tough."

"Wake Forest is a great basketball team. We stuck it out for four quarters and were able to come outwith the win."

Makayla Timpson becomes FSU's single-season double-double leader

Florida State women's basketball faced Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament on March 7, 2024, at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Florida State women's basketball faced Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament on March 7, 2024, at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Timpson finished with a team-leading 22 points and 13 rebounds, registering her 16th double-double of the season.

The total passes Dallas Wings forward Natasha Howard's 15, which she recorded in the 2013-14 season at FSU.

"It's her consistency. She is, as we said, like, just double-double, she broke the season record. That's consistency right there," Wyckoff said. "We can rely on her game in and game out to score. She has a phenomenal shooting percentage and rebounds."

The Seminoles found much of their success at the free throw line, shooting 84% (21-of-25) on the night, 8-of-11 in the first half alone off 11 Wake Forest fouls. Timpson collected eight of her 22 points at the line.

Guard Ta'Niya Latson recorded her 13th straight double-figure scoring performance, draining 19 points. She also shot well at the line, hitting 6-of-8. O'Mariah Gordon broke into double-scoring figures with 12 points.

"Me and Kay Kay [Timpson], we always try to lock in before the game together," Latson said. "I feed off of her energy, she feeds off me. Like I said, we just tried to be ourselves. And we're the captains of the team, so we try to lead by example."

As a team, the Seminoles shot 40% (23-of-57) from the field. In the transition game, FSU scored 24 points off of turnovers to Wake Forests' nine. The Seminoles also had 14 fastbreak points to Wake Forests' zero.

The Demon Deacons did make a comeback effort in the fourth quarter, but its first-half woes held them back.

Preparing for Syracuse

Florida State women's basketball fell to Syracuse, 79-73, on Jan. 18, 2023 at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, NY.
Florida State women's basketball fell to Syracuse, 79-73, on Jan. 18, 2023 at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, NY.

The Seminoles improve to 22-9 on the year and will face No. 3 Syracuse on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Orange defeated FSU 79-73 on Jan. 18 at the JMA Orange Dome.

One of the more entertaining matchups of the game will be between Latson and Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair. Latson is averaging 21.4 points a game and Fair averages 22 points.

In their last meeting, Fair's 31 points helped the Orange to a then upset win over the Seminoles.

"We've got to get our get-back," Latson said. "We're going to win tomorrow."

Up next

Who: ACC Tournament quarterfinals - No. 6 FSU (22-9, 12-6) vs. No. 3 Syracuse (23-6, 13-5)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC.

TV: ACC Network

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU women's basketball wins, advances to ACC Tournament quarterfinals