Ta’Niya Latson buzzer-beater lifts FSU women to huge 86-84 win at No. 13 North Carolina
The entire North Carolina team knew she was getting the ball.
So did everyone else in Carmichael Arena.
It didn’t matter.
Florida State superstar Ta’Niya Latson caught the ball on the right wing with 3.5 seconds left, pump-faked two Tar Heels into the air, drove into the paint, hung in the air to get around another UNC defender and then laid it in at the buzzer to give the Seminoles an enormous 86-84 road win on Sunday afternoon against the No. 13 Tar Heels.
It was a marquee moment for one of the marquee players in the country.
Latson, who led the nation in scoring at 26.6 points per game coming into Sunday, finished with a game-high 25 points and seven assists for the Seminoles, who are now 16-4 overall and 6-2 in the ACC.
The junior guard scored 17 points in the second half to help overcome the loss of all-conference candidate Makayla Timpson, who played just eight minutes after halftime because of foul trouble. She eventually fouled out early in the fourth quarter, but Latson and her teammates were able to find a way to win anyway.
It wasn’t easy.
North Carolina had a 76-71 lead before the Seminoles went on a 9-1 run, capped by a Latson runner in the lane with 1:36 left. But the Tar Heels answered back, eventually taking a one-point lead with 19 seconds left.
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On the next possession, Latson drew a double team and found teammate Sydney Bowles on the wing, and Bowles drilled a long 3-pointer to give the Seminoles a two-point lead with 7.2 seconds left. It was Bowles’ sixth made 3 of the game, and she finished with 18 points.
North Carolina answered back with a runner in the lane by Reniya Kelly to tie the game at 84 with 3.5 seconds left.
But all that did was set the stage for one of the best players in the country to make one of the biggest shots of her career.
Latson and the Seminoles play again on Thursday at Boston College.
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