Florida State women hold off Boston College in ACC tourney

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Erin Howard scored 16 points, Morgan Jones made two key baskets in the final 1:12 and No. 9 seed Florida State held off eighth-seeded Boston College 63-58 on Thursday in the second round of the ACC tournament.

Florida State (17-12) will play third-ranked North Carolina State in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Seminoles lost to the ACC regular-season champions 68-48 on Feb. 3.

Florida State led 54-41 with 4:15 remaining in the fourth quarter before turning it over four times during a 12-1 Boston College run. Three of those came on consecutive possessions.

Jones made Florida State's second field goal of the fourth with 1:12 left for a 59-55 lead, ending a three minute field-goal drought.

Leading 61-58, Florida State struggled again with Boston College's pressure defense and with the shot clock winding down, Jones drove the lane and converted a contested layup with 7.8 seconds left. A timeout put Boston College at midcourt, but Maria Gakdeng was whistled for an offensive foul on a moving screen and Florida State ran out the clock.

Jones finished with 11 points, on 5-of-8 shooting, to become the 39th Seminole to reach 1,000 career points. Sammie Puisis added 12 points on four 3-pointers for Florida State, which has won eight of its last 11 games.

Taylor Soule scored 16 points and Gakdeng added 15 for Boston College (19-11). Cameron Swartz finished with 11 points.

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