TALLAHASSEE - Shante Williams' jumper with 25 seconds left capped a Florida State rally and helped lift the Seminoles past Wisconsin-Milwaukee 72-70 in the first round of the Seminole Classic on Saturday night.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Maria Viall hit two free throws with 51 seconds left to tie the score at 70, but Williams scored on FSU's next possession.
Viall, who led all scorers with 25 points, missed a potentially tying shot with seven seconds left.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee led 47-36 at halftime and was up 62-53 with 6:47 left, but the Seminoles, who made their final six shots from the field, closed the game with a 19-8 run.
Tasheika Allen hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips, the last coming with 2:45 left, to put FSU ahead 68-66. The score was tied twice after that, but the Seminoles never trailed again.
"Tasheika comes up big at big times," FSU coach Sue Semrau said. "She wants to be the one that takes those shots and I think everybody at Florida State is on that same wavelength."
Allen had 16 points for FSU. Genesis Choice scored 13, Williams 12 and Lauren Bradley 11, including five during the game-ending spurt.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee shot 66.7 percent in the first half but 31.8 percent in the second.
USF 81, AKRON 43: Nalini Miller and Tristen Webb scored 12 each and Alana Tanksley added 10 as the host Bulls broke a three-game losing streak in the first round of their Best Western Roundball Classic.
South Florida led 26-5 with 5:51 left in the first half before the Zips went on a 15-8 run to cut the deficit to 34-20 at the half. But the Bulls held Akron to two points in the first 6:20 of the second half to put the game away.
S. CAROLINA 96, FAMU 66: Lauren Simms scored 19 to lead six players in double figures for the host Gamecocks.
P.R.-BAYAMON 76, ECKERD 56: Carla Escalera and Shelia Moura scored 14 each to lead the visitors at the Eckerd Classic.
FRANCIS MARION (S.C.) 59, TAMPA 55: Michelle Ghere scored 19 and Velvet Dotson 18 as the Patriots rallied at the Eckerd Classic.
Top 25
NO.7 PENN ST. 69, NO.9 KANSAS ST. 56: Tanisha Wright had 23 points for the Nittany Lions in the championship game of the Junkanoo Shootout in Freeport, Bahamas.
Kelly Mazzante finished with 16 points and Jess Strom added 15 points and six assists for Penn State, which lost 88-66 to the Wildcats last season in the final of the Preseason NIT.
"Revenge is sweet and we definitely talked about it a lot," Strom said. "That was a bad game for us last year and we just wanted to come back and prove they are not better than us."
NO.4 DUKE 119, SFA 53: Mistie Bass, a 6-foot-3 center, scored a career-high 21 on 9-of-10 shooting and added a career-best three blocks in 27 minutes, leading the Blue Devils in the Duke Basketball Classic.
NO.5 TEXAS TECH 77, SMU 37: Jia Perkins scored 22 and the visiting Raiders set a school record by holding the Mustangs to 16.9 percent shooting from the field in the championship game of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic.
NO.8 PURDUE 76, WAKE 57: Shereka Wright scored 19 and the Boilermakers pulled away late in the Golden Knights Classic in Orlando. Beth Jones added 12 points and Erin Lawless 11 for Purdue, which closed the game on a 14-4 run.
NO.11 MINNESOTA 84, USC 61: Janel McCarville had a career-high 27 points and added eight rebounds for the Golden Gophers in the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam's Lucayan division in Freeport.
NO.13 UNC 76, MD.-BALTIMORE COUNTY 34: Leah Metcalf and Ivory Latta scored 16 each for the host Tar Heels. Metcalf and Latta made a combined 7 of 13 3-pointers, and Camille Little finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina.
NO.18 LSU 73, RICE 51: Seimone Augustus scored 21 and Temeka Johnson had 12 points, seven rebounds and five steals, leading the visiting Tigers.
NO.21 ARIZONA 67, NAVY 61: Shawntinice Polk scored 19 and sparked two key runs to lead the Wildcats at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu.
NO.23 TCU 79, BYU 74: Amy Pack had 18 points and five rebounds to lead the visiting Horned Frogs. Sandora Irvin added 16 points and seven rebounds and Ebony Shaw scored 10 for TCU.
NO.25 AUBURN 79, CREIGHTON 72: Le'Coe Willingham scored 16 of her 21 in the second half, helping the Tigers rally at the Duke Classic.
