No. 19 Florida State escapes Georgia Tech 85-78 | News

ATLANTA -- Leonor Rodriguez scored 23 points while Natasha Howard and Morgan Toles recorded double-doubles to lead No. 19 Florida State over Georgia Tech 85-78 Thursday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Howard (18 rebounds) and Toles (10 assists) both finished with 18 points.

Georgia Tech (7-6) took a 45-38 lead into halftime behind a 58 percent (20 of 34) first-half shooting performance and 16 assists in the frame. Florida State (12-1) rallied to retake the lead, 72-71, but Brittany Jackson hit a 3-pointer to put Georgia Tech back on top 74-72 with 4:20 left to play.

From there, however, the Yellow Jackets went cold, missing their next five shots and committing four turnovers over the next 4 minutes. Florida State, meanwhile, turned those errors into points, hitting back-to-back layups off consecutive steals to pull away. The Seminoles scored 10 of their last 13 points in the paint.