ENTERING THE ELITE ERA

FSU made a historic run in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. After defeating Louisiana Tech and St. John’s in the first two rounds, No. 3 FSU faced No. 7 Mississippi State in the Sweet 16. The game came down to the wire. G Courtney Ward scored a pair of free throws to give the Seminoles a 72-66 lead with 18 seconds to play. Mississippi State quickly responded with a 3-pointer and two free throws to cut the deficit to just one point. But Ward continued her superb play, picking up a foul and draining two more free throws to boost FSU’s margin to 74-71 in the final seconds. “She looked over at me after she made the first one and winked and looked like ‘Yeah, I’ve got this,'” coach Sue Semrau said. The Seminoles closed out the victory and advanced to the first Elite Eight appearance in program history.