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Notre Dame comeback falls short in first-ever loss to Florida State

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey watches in the first half against Virginia Tech on Feb. 3.
Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey watches in the first half against Virginia Tech on Feb. 3. (Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

In less than eight minutes, No. 20 Notre Dame nearly erased an 18-point, fourth quarter deficit.

The Irish trailed Florida State by two points with 19.3 seconds left and possession of the basketball. Notre Dame's attempt to tie the game ended with a wild shot by freshman guard Sonia Citron, which resulted in a rebound scramble that bounced out of bounds.

Upon review, Florida State was awarded possession with 12.5 seconds remaining. Then freshman guard O'Mariah Gordon hit both of her free throws to all but end Notre Dame's rally in a 70-65 home victory for Florida State.

The win was Florida State's first over Notre Dame in the 12 all-time meetings between the two teams. The Irish (18-5, 9-3 ACC) also ended their five-game winning streak that started Jan. 23 at Pittsburgh and included a victory over No. 3 NC State.

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Notre Dame jumped out to a 19-13 lead after one quarter in Tallahassee's Donald L. Tucker Center. Then the Irish only managed to score 19 total points in the next two quarters. The Seminoles (11-10, 5-6) took advantage of a Notre Dame team that looked gassed playing in its fifth game in 11 days.

In a third quarter in which Florida State outscored Notre Dame 22-9, the Irish repeatedly settled for jump shots they couldn't hit and committed five turnovers. Notre Dame made just three of its 14 shots in the third quarter including 1-of-5 from 3. The Seminoles caught fire with 9-of-13 shooting in the quarter.

The Irish offense lacked sharp shooting from senior Dara Mabrey, who finished scoreless on eight shots, and the bench spark junior forward Sam Brunelle typically provided in conference play. Brunelle scored four points and missed all four attempts from 3.

Thanks to a nine-point fourth quarter, freshman guard Olivia Miles finished with a team-high 17 points. Citron and graduate forward Maya Dodson each added 15 points. Dodson grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Florida State finished 26-of-51 from the field in a balanced offensive attack. Six players scored at least seven points and four of them hit double digits. Forward Valencia Myers led the way with 14 points.

Notre Dame will continue conference play Thursday when it hosts Miami (12-9, 5-6) at 6 p.m. EST on ACC Network.

FULL BOX SCORE

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