Saturday March 28, 2015
Courtesy of TheACC.com
LINK: NOTRE DAME AND FLORIDA STATE MARCH ON
Irish handle Stanford, Florida State hangs on against Arizona State, UNC falls in last seconds to South Carolina
Romero’s 21 Guides Seminoles to Elite Eight
GREENSBORO, N.C. – At about 12:15 a.m., Sue Semrau ran into the Florida State locker room and yelled, “It’s past my bedtime!”
FSU (29-6) stayed up late to beat Arizona State (29-6) here in the Greensboro Regional Semifinal, and the Seminoles needed every last second to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in program history.
Leticia Romero scored an FSU career-high 21 points, but it was Maegan Conwright’s steal with one second to go that finally secured a 66-65 victory.
The Seminoles can clinch a first-ever visit to the Final Four with a win over No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday.
“It’s going to be hard to wind down a little bit, but that’s OK,” Semrau said as the clock pushed toward 1 a.m. “It’s this time of year, and who needs sleep?”
Despite Romero’s heroics, a missed free throw from Emiah Bingley gave Arizona State the ball with five seconds on the clock and a one-point deficit.
But as she rushed down the court, ASU’s Peace Amukamara built up a little too much speed and lost control of the ball just enough to open a window for Conwright to make a pass at it with her left hand.
“She was on a full head of steam and I was quicker than her, so I could go across and steal the ball,” Conwright said. “It’s like a trick that I do – the team makes fun of me because I do it so well.”
Added guard Brittany Brown, “She does that all the time. It wasn’t a surprise but it was a great feeling.”
Even better in that it came just a few moments after Conwright missed an open layup that might have sealed the game.
“I’m so, so proud of her,” Romero said. “You saw her face and how she was (disappointed). The way she came back – I told her, she’s the leader of the team. We all look up to her.”
Florida State coasted through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament but found a much tougher test in the Sun Devils.
Blending a slow, methodical offense with a defense that was among the most physical FSU has seen this season, ASU seemed to disrupt the Seminoles as the teams traded blows in the early goings.
FSU gained some separation thanks to an 11-2 run at the end of the first half, but, as they did in their second-round win over Arkansas Little-Rock, the Sun Devils quickly rallied back.
They outscored FSU 22-11 over the first eight-plus minutes of the second half to tie the score at 44-44.
“We scouted them, we know that they’re a comeback team,” Conwright said. “We know that they’re a second-half team. So, knowing that, we knew we still had to battle.”
The Seminoles never trailed in the second half, but they never led by more than two possessions during the game’s final 10 minutes, either.
That they staved off ASU’s comeback was thanks in large part to Romero, who shot 10 of 16 from the field while adding four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“She just made play after play,” Semrau said. “It was her turn to put the team on her back. And she did that.”
Four times in the last 5:42, the Sun Devils made a shot to either tie the game or cut their deficit to two or three points.
Each time, Romero made a shot to give FSU some breathing room. The last bounced off the rim and in with 23 seconds and proved to be the game-winner.
ASU’s Elisha Davis then knocked down a 3-pointer that made it 66-65, but the Sun Devils could get no closer.
“My mind was just like ‘Leti, you have a game today. You’re hot right now,’” Romero said. “’You’ve got to do it for the team.’”
As she spoke, Romero wore evidence of the game’s physicality. She had cuts on her hands, scrapes on her knees and her white jersey was stained by sweat and blood.
Romero smiled and attributed that to her own clumsiness, but Semrau said that she “adjusted more to American basketball tonight than any other game we played.”
Not that she minds.
If cuts and bruises are the prices for entrance to the Elite Eight, Romero is more than happy to pay.
“I just was bleeding all over,” Romero said. “But when you’ve got a game like this, you’ve got a team like this, you can’t let anything get you down.
“You’ve got to keep going.”
Romero kept going, and now the Seminoles are going to the Elite Eight.
