No. 17 Florida St. 87, Jacksonville St. 39

Published Dec. 12, 2010 9:19 p.m. ET

foxsports

Natasha Howard scored 17 points and Chasity Clayton added 16 and No. 17 Florida State took a big lead early and cruised to an 87-39 victory over Jacksonville State on Sunday.

Florida State (8-1) led 49-22 at halftime and coach Sue Semrau played her reserves a good part of the second half.

Jacksonville State (2-6) has lost six straight games.

Amanda McCarthy, who had not made a 3-pointer in Jacksonville's first seven games, went 4 of 9 from long distance to lead the Gamecocks with 12 points.

Five Seminoles finished in double figures. Cierra Bravard had 13 points while Leonor Rodriguez and Courtney Ward had 11 apiece. Rodriguez's 3-pointer gave Florida State an 87-37 lead with 2:14 left.

Clayton and Rodriguez combined for 27 of Florida State's 38 bench points while Jacksonville's top scorers on the season, Brittany Wiley and Danielle Vaughn, managed to score a total of seven points.

Florida State shot 53.8 percent from the field and were 10 of 21 from 3-point distance while the Gamecocks shot just 25.5 percent overall.

Florida State jumped to an 18-6 lead and built on it the rest of the way. The visiting Gamecocks shot just 32.1 percent in the first half and only 18.5 percent in the second half on 5-of-27 shooting.

Florida State dominated on the boards 46-27, but Jacksonville's Danielle Beneby had a game-high eight rebounds.

The Seminoles host Central Florida on Wednesday and then visit Yale on Dec. 18 before their Dec. 21 visit to UConn's undefeated, two-time defending national champions.