No. 8 Texas Women Outlast No. 4 Florida State 92-88 In 2OT
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For the second time in eight days, Texas got a big road win against a top-5 team.
In a game that had plenty of turns on Monday night, the eighth-ranked Longhorns rallied from 15 down late in the third quarter to defeat No. 4 Florida State 92-88 in double overtime.
Texas, which defeated then-No. 2 Baylor on Feb. 6, improved to 21-4 and has won 19 straight, which is the second-longest winning streak in Division I.
"To be on the road in this type of environment and have the adversity — we had a lot of people in foul trouble — I thought our team showed a lot of toughness and resiliency," Texas coach Karen Aston said.
Brooke McCarty scored a career-high 29 points as she was 11 for 16 from the field and 5 for 8 on 3-pointers. Ariel Atkins added 21 points as the Longhorns were 20 of 29 from the field after halftime.
"We were sped up in the first half, maybe a little anxious and didn't have any ball reversal," Aston said. "We ran more sets in the second half and got better looks."
Texas trailed 85-84 with three minutes left in the second overtime but closed the game with an 8-3 run. The Seminoles missed their last six shots and were held without a field goal over the final 3:38, shooting a season worst 33.7 percent (29 for 86).
Shakayla Thomas scored 23 points, and Brittany Brown and Ama Degbeon added 13 apiece for Florida State (23-3), which snapped a 10-game winning streak.
Texas trailed 59-46 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter before they went on a 22-4 run to take a 68-63 lead with 1:23 remaining. Atkins had 10 points during the run while McCarty added six.
Florida State, which shot a season-low 33.7 percent for the game, was 1 of 11 at one point in the fourth but went on a 5-2 run to send the game into overtime, including Leticia Romero's 3-pointer from the right corner with 1 second remaining.
The Seminoles were able to send the game to another OT period after Chatrice White made a free throw with 15 seconds remaining in the first OT.
"There were so many things that could have gone either way," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "It would have been a great win to have but our goal of still winning the Atlantic Coast Conference is still there."
BIG PICTURE
Texas: Seventy has been the Longhorns' magic number this season. They are won all 16 games when scoring more than 70 and are 5-4 when scoring fewer than 70.
Florida State: The Seminoles are 7-2 against ranked teams this season. They will have another big ranked contest on Feb. 26 when they travel to No. 7 Notre Dame in a game that could decide the ACC regular-season title.
EXTRA BASKETBALL, TIMES TWO
This was the first time Texas had gone to two overtimes since defeating Oklahoma on Jan. 29, 2015. It was Florida State's first overtime game since Dec. 3, 2014, against Purdue (which they won) and first double-overtime game since they defeated Virginia Tech in triple overtime on Feb. 19, 2005.
TEST OF ATTRITION
Six players ended up fouling out, including four for Texas. Longhorns' forward Olamide Aborowa, who had played in only 12 games this season and was averaging 1.3 points, was pressed into service during the second OT and made a huge basket with 1:11 remaining to give Texas a three-point lead.
RECORD BOOK
Thomas tied a Florida State single-game record with 34 field-goal attempts. Bev Burnett also attempted 34 shots on Dec. 16, 1987, against Georgia Southern. Thomas came into the game making 53.2 percent from the field but was 9 of 34.
UP NEXT
Texas: The Longhorns travel to Oklahoma on Saturday. They won the first meeting 86-68 on Jan. 17.
Florida State: The Seminoles are at Virginia, who they have defeated in their last three meetings, on Thursday.
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