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BC knocks off No. 8 Florida State, 67-60

Mar 6, 2010 - 3:25 AM By JOEDY McCREARY AP Sports Writer

GREENSBORO, N.C.(AP) -- Jasmine Gill came home and played like she plans on sticking around for a while.

The Greensboro native led Boston College to its most significant upset in a late-season string of them, scoring six of her 13 points during the run that lifted the Eagles past No. 8 Florida State 67-60 on Friday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal.

"Nothing like a home atmosphere," Gill said. "I feel like everybody in the stands was on our side."

Stefanie Murphy had 14 points for seventh-seeded BC (17-14), which shot nearly 49 percent and overcame a huge rebounding deficit by forcing the second-seeded Seminoles to a season-worst 27.6 percent shooting.

Cierra Bravard had 13 points for Florida State (26-5), and her three-point play tied it at 46 with 6:04 to play before Gill took over. She knocked down a jumper with the shot clock winding down, then went coast-to-coast for a layup after a steal to start the 13-3 run that put the Eagles in control.

"I think we faced every situation during the regular season," BC coach Sylvia Crawley said. "We had some games where a team would make a strong run at us, and we would not fight back at that moment. ... We would string together back-to-back negatives. I think our team has learned from that situation. ... They were very, very determined to fight back and stop their momentum."

Ayla Brown and Carolyn Swords had 11 points apiece while Jaclyn Thoman capped the decisive run with a free throw that made it 59-49 with 1:41 left. Murphy, who fouled out with 6:04 left, had an otherwise perfect night for Boston College: She hit all five of her shots, both of her 3s and both of her free throws.

The Eagles, who reached the ACC semifinals for the first time, have won three straight against nationally ranked teams, last month knocking off both Duke and then-ranked North Carolina in consecutive games. Next up on Saturday: North Carolina State, which upset No. 24 Virginia 66-59 in another quarterfinal.

Alysha Harvin had 13 points and Chastity Clayton added 10 for the Seminoles, who had trouble making up for the loss of all-ACC forward Jacinta Monroe, who averages a team-best 13.4 points.

She suffered what team officials said was a sprained right ankle roughly 4 minutes into the game, and she limped off the court with help from trainers, was taken to a hospital for X-rays that coach Sue Semrau said showed no broken bones.

But in Monroe's absence, Florida State turned to its perimeter game with poor results - the Seminoles hoisted a season-high 28 3-pointers and made just four - and lured Swords, Murphy and Brittanny Johnson into foul trouble, but couldn't take full advantage.

"It was very hard to play without one of your leaders on the floor, especially (Monroe)," Clayton said. "She has a big impact for us. Getting them in foul trouble, the coaches kept telling us to attack, attack, attack. Really, that's what we needed to do, especially since Cint was out, to be effective on the floor."

For a while, though, it appeared that they figured out how to play without Monroe, using a 21-5 run that spanned halftime to seemingly take control. The Seminoles, who trailed by nine early, pushed their lead to 36-27 on Clayton's jumper with 16:40 left, before managing just one field goal during the 8 1/2 minutes that followed.

"We just couldn't buy one," Semrau said. "It's not like our team, but it is what it is."

Cold shooting was a frequent problem in this one for the Seminoles, who missed 20 of their first 24 shots. Courtney Ward, whose 11-point scoring average was second only to Monroe on her team, missed her first seven attempts and finished 3 for 20 - 2 for 17 from 3-point range - while Harvin was 4 for 17.

Florida State attempted 33 more shots than Boston College, but the Eagles made them significantly more often. No team this season shot a higher percentage against the Seminoles than BC, and that more than offset a 44-34 rebounding advantage and the Eagles' 18 turnovers.

"I just don't think we shot the ball well," Semrau said. "I thought Boston College did a great job of giving us tough looks. But we got second-chance shots, so there's really no excuse for that."