No. 3 ND jolted by Florida St. for 2nd straight loss

Ta'Niya Latson scored 23 points and Makayla Timpson had 22 as No. 24 Florida State handed No. 3 Notre Dame its second straight loss, 86-81 on Thursday night.

It was Florida State's second win over Notre Dame in 15 meetings between the teams and its first in South Bend.

O'Mariah Gordon scored 15 points for the Seminoles (23-6, 13-4 ACC), who have won four in a row.

Sonia Citron scored 21 points to lead Notre Dame (24-4, 15-2), and Liatu King added 17 points. Hannah Hidalgo scored 16 points but was 4-of-18 shooting.

Notre Dame led by as many as 15 points and lost. That's tied for its largest blown lead since coach Niele Ivey took over in 2020-21, after having blown a 15-point advantage at Syracuse on Jan. 31, 2021, according to ESPN Research.

The Fighting Irish suffered a 104-95 double-overtime loss at NC State on Sunday and are tied with the Wolfpack for the ACC lead. If the Fighting Irish and Wolfpack share the ACC title, NC State will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament because of its victory over Notre Dame.

According to ESPN Research, Notre Dame is the only team currently ranked in the AP top 10 that has lost consecutive games -- and it has done it twice this season. This latest skid may cost the Fighting Irish a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

After Florida State pulled out to a 67-57 lead at the end of the third quarter, Notre Dame closed to 67-66 in the opening minutes of the fourth. Florida State then regained a double-digit lead and held off Notre Dame.

Florida State shook off a 4-of-20 shooting performance in the first quarter and surged ahead for a 44-40 halftime lead, outscoring the Fighting Irish 30-17 in the second quarter.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.