Yderstrom Slams Door on Florida State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – It came down to the final seconds before 13th-ranked Miami finally ended a 25-year jinx in Tallahassee.

The Hurricanes watched a 19-point lead disappear before escaping with a 60-57 win Sunday at Florida State on Stefanie Yderstrom’s 3-pointer from deep in the corner with 17 seconds remaining.

“A lot of demons … were still on our back a little, bit but she exorcised the demons with that big shot,” said Miami coach Katie Meier, who was a freshman at Duke when the Hurricanes last won here on Jan. 29, 1987. “They make it very, very hard to get a bucket. That shot by Stefanie was big.”

Miami (15-3, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 41-22 a minute into the second half, but Florida State fought back to tie the game at 57 when Cierra Bravard made the second of two tries at the free throw line with 37 seconds left.

Shenise Johnson led Miami with 24 points and became just the fourth player in Miami history to reach 2,000 career points. Morgan Stroman and Riquna Williams added 11 points for the Hurricanes. Yderstrom finished with 9, all on treys.

Yderstrom and Williams — the ACC’s top two 3-point shooters — each made three 3-point shots for Miami, which hit 8 of 22 of its long distance tries compared to Florida State’s 1 of 5 from behind the arc. The two Hurricanes guards have each made 38 field goals from long range this season.

Sophomore forward Natasha Howard led Florida State (10-9, 2-3) with 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, getting 14 points and 10 rebounds in the second half to spark the Seminoles’ late rally.

“Seventeen rebounds hasn’t been had against a top-25 team here in years,” Florida State coach Sue Semrau said.

In fact, it was just the third time since 1993 that it had happened.

“We didn’t give up at all,” the 6-foot-3 Howard said. “That’s the best thing that ever happened. We didn’t give up at the end.”

Miami was able to hold on for the win despite shooting 36.5 percent compared to Florida State’s 43.1 percent, and the Seminoles won the rebound battle 39-32 led by Howard’s dominating presence.

Chasity Clayton added 12 points and Bravard 10 for Florida State, which was hurt by 22 turnovers.

Johnson scored 15 points in the first half and keyed a 23-6 run that propelled the Hurricanes into the locker room with a 35-20 lead.

“Shenise did a great job of setting the tone very early for us,” said Meier said, adding, “Two thousand points … that’s an amazing accomplishment.”

Semrau, however, was frustrated with her team’s start.

“I hope that after this, we play more grown up in the first half,” she said.

A pair of Howard layups sparked an early 8-0 Florida State burst that gave the Seminoles a quick-lived 10-7 lead, but disappeared quickly in the wake of the Hurricanes’ 23-6 run capped by a Johnson layup for a 30-16 lead with 4:44 left in the half.

The Seminoles’ women weren’t able to pull off a second home-floor upset in as many days.

Florida State’s unranked men’s team clobbered No. 3 North Carolina 90-57 just 24 hours earlier.Semrau’s team visits Boston College on Thursday, while Miami is at Virginia that night.

POST-GAME NOTES

Just a Couple Grand
With her 24-point performance today, senior Shenise Johnson became just the fourth Hurricane to surpass the 2,000-point plateau.

A Quarter Century of Futility… Over
For the first time since Jan. 29, 1987, the Hurricanes defeated Florida State in Tallahassee. Miami had lost its last nine meetings in the state capital prior to today.

Tough Start for the Noles
Miami held Florida State to just 20 points in the first half, the least amount of the season for the home team.