By JJ MARSHALL

jjm023@latech.edu

 

Senior guard and team leader Tasha Williams had to limp through her last game in a Tech uniform, playing on an injured foot in the Techsters’ 80-71 loss to Florida State in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Denver.

“That was a great effort by Tasha,” Florida State head coach Sue Semrau said. “To play like that on an injured foot, she is a warrior.”

Williams hurt her foot in practice Wednesday, and struggled through the meeting with the Seminoles, scoring only eight points.

“I wasn’t mentally prepared,” Williams said. “I’m not making excuses. I just wasn’t into the game, and that’s the bottom line.”

Florida State (20-9) was led by Holly Johnson, who scored a career-high 25 points, with Alicia Gladden adding 20, as the Seminoles squeezed by the Techsters to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“Holly has been that kind of player for us for the past two years,” Semrau said. “She’s always coming through with clutch shots.”

Tech (26-5), the 11th seed, was led by Tamika Kursh with 12 points, and will have to wait until next year to pick up the program’s 900th win. The only other team in women’s college basketball to reach the 900 win milestone to date is Tennessee.

Tech and Tennessee are also the only two programs who have appeared in all 25 women’s NCAA Tournaments.

The 6th seeded Seminoles had two big scoring runs in the first half, going into halftime with a 43-32 advantage, which proved to be too much for the Techsters to recover from despite outscoring Florida State in the second half.

The Seminoles also out-rebounded the Lady Techsters 48 to 37, with Gladden leading the effort with 12 boards.

The Techsters were riding a 15 game win-streak going into the meeting with Florida State, and concluded the season perfect at home, going 13-0 in Thomas Assembly Center.

Aarica Ray-Boyd finished the year as Tech’s scoring leader, averaging 14.2 points per game, while Williams, Shan Moore and Ty Moore all averaged in double figures in scoring as well.

Ty Moore led the team in rebounding for the season with 9.2 per game, and Williams led in assists with a total of 145.

The Techsters entered the tournament as an 11 seed despite their strong season record, and will now look to prepare for next season and a run at their 26th consecutive tournament appearance.

“I congratulate Florida State,” Tech head coach Chris Long said, “They played well and did the little things that made the difference in the game.”

Long will now hit the recruiting trail in preparation for the 2006-07 season.