FSU women’s basketball falls at No. 1 UConn

Nov 10, 2025 - 10:00

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FSU women’s basketball falls at No. 1 UConn

Florida State (2-1) was defeated by UConn (2-0) this afternoon in Storrs, CT by a 99-67 score.

Florida State hung relatively close with UConn early in the game. However, the Huskies hit the Seminoles with a devastating 22-4 run to end the second half. UConn was up 51-27 at halftime and cruised to the 99-67 victory.

FSU struggled to beat UConn’s pressure and that led to 16 first-half turnovers and plenty of easy buckets for the home team. Nevertheless, there were some bright spots. FSU shot the ball relatively well from deep (38.7%) and the Noles won the fourth quarter (19-16) against UConn’s reserves. That seems like a backhanded compliment but it must be remembered that UConn’s reserves are probably good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

I would normally cover the game in more detail, but in this case, our time is probably better spent discussing what this means for the team going forward this season.

Postgame

Sole Williams led Florida State with 14 points. Jasmine Shavers and Allie Kubek chipped in with 11 points each.

Amaya Bonner did not make the trip due to illness.

Obviously, this was always going to be a tough game for Florida State. UConn is the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. They are loaded and FSU is trying to integrate seven new players to a 10-person roster. Therefore, we have to be careful about making any definitive judgments based on this game.

Nevertheless, it is fair to make some observations.

FSU is committed to playing fast. The staff sees that as their identity and they are not likely to waver from that belief in any meaningful way. There is nothing inherently wrong with that strategy. However, there are issues with it given this roster. The three main issues that FSU will face are (in no particular order):

Florida State only has 10 players on the roster. Having so few players is risky regardless of style of play but it can be even worse for a team that wants to play fast because players can get worn down. Longtime readers may remember that I have discussed this before in previous years but briefly, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to recruit a couple of walk-ons as emergency players in case the team runs into injury problems.
It’s early but Pania Davis has been impressive so far. The Seminoles may want to run the offense through her in the post. It may be harder to do that playing at a fast pace.
FSU has only one true point guard on the roster and she is a true freshman who didn’t play in the first half today and only played five minutes overall. Will FSU be able to keep the turnovers down without an experienced point guard playing at such a fast pace? The answer to that question may tell the tale of the season.

To be sure, there are benefits to playing at such a fast pace and it does suit several players on the team. However, there are risks and whether this season is successful may well come down to how the team is able to manage the frenetic pace.

It may feel a bit odd to say this after a 32-point loss but FSU fans shouldn’t feel too discouraged about this team after today. The (reasonable) goal for this year is to play well enough to get in the NCAA Tournament and maybe steal a win. That would set the program up in great fashion to welcome an impressive recruiting class coming in next year. The Noles didn’t do anything today to make it seem less likely that they would be able to reach that goal.