CLEMSON, S.C. — The Clemson Tigers (16-9, 7-5) held their own down the stretch to record an impressive, 73-68, win against the No. 21/19 Florida State Seminoles (20-5, 8-4) at Littlejohn Coliseum on Thursday. The Tigers were braced by several critical shots in the final minutes to come away with the victory and secure the season sweep of the Seminoles for the first time since 2002.
Clemson shot 55 percent on the night and limited Florida State to 38 percent shooting by way of solid performances on both ends of the floor. For the third straight game, the Tigers shot above 50 percent (55.6 percent) from the arc, a streak that has not occurred since November of 2010.
Four different players reached double figures for the Tigers, including leading scorer Kobi Thornton, who had 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Point guard Danielle Edwards went 3-for-3 from deep as part of a 17-point outing. Over the last three games, Edwards has knocked down 12-of-15 shots from beyond the arc.
_
👌👌👌Westbrook moves into double-figures with a trey.37-34 Clemson, 7:59 Q3 pic.twitter.com/7v9XgWwcZD— Clemson Women's Basketball (@ClemsonWBB) February 15, 2019
👌👌👌
Westbrook moves into double-figures with a trey.
37-34 Clemson, 7:59 Q3 pic.twitter.com/7v9XgWwcZD
— Clemson Women's Basketball (@ClemsonWBB) February 15, 2019
Bennett with the HUGE jumper!71-67 Clemson, 18.7 to go pic.twitter.com/r2KlbUPtLR— Clemson Women's Basketball (@ClemsonWBB) February 15, 2019
Bennett with the HUGE jumper!
71-67 Clemson, 18.7 to go pic.twitter.com/r2KlbUPtLR
“We got better today and that’s what we always talk about in the locker room,” said head coach Amanda Butler. “We had a great deal of fight and composure down the stretch and performed well at free-throw line, which is really important for us.”
Clemson took a 6-0 lead right from the start to set the tone for a competitive contest. The Seminoles boasted a 32-30 advantage at halftime, but the Tigers came out firing in the second half. Clemson outscored Florida State 25-14 in the third quarter, shooting 71 percent from the floor to take a 55-46 lead into the final frame.
The ‘Noles were able to hang around and pulled within three points on several occasions, but the Tigers came up clutch in crunch time. With 31 seconds left, center Tylar Bennett sank a jumper off a no-look pass from Aliyah Collier to lock down the Tigers’ third victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Photos by Lawton Hilliard
Thursday’s contest was the Tigers’ annual #Play4Kay game and the home team made the win count. Fans can continue to show their support for the Tigers in the National Free Throw Challenge here.
Clemson will have a short turnaround before its next matchup as the Tigers traveling north to battle the Boston College Eagles (14-11, 3-9) on Saturday, Feb. 16. The conference clash will tip off at 1 p.m. at Conte Forum and the game will air on ACC Network Extra.
Get the latest news on all things Clemson women’s basketball by following us on Twitter (@ClemsonWBB), Facebook (/ClemsonTigersWBB) and Instagram (@ClemsonWBB).
