Women's Basketball | 11/24/2022 12:50:31 PM

CANCÚN, Mexico – The opening game of the Mayan Tournament at the 2022 Women's Cancun Challenge featured Oklahoma State and Florida State, facing off for the first time since the 2008 NCAA Tournament. This time around in Mexico, it was the Cowgirls who fended off a late comeback and earned the 79-77 win.

Oklahoma State (5-1), returning to the Cancun Challenge for the second time after their initial 2017 appearance, came out of the gates hot. OSU shot 68.8% (11-16) from the field in the first quarter enroute to a 29-21 lead.

Cowgirls fifth year guards Terryn Milton and Naomie Alnatas were the catalysts of the OSU offense in the first half, helping their team extend the lead to 49-35 by halftime.

Florida State (5-1) managed to nearly erase the deficit in the second half, trailing by one late in the fourth quarter, behind sophomore forward Makayla Timpson and freshman Ta'Niya Latson. 

OSU led 79-77 with 11.1 left in the game, when Latson drove to the hole coming up just short on the potential game-tying layup as time expired.

Latson came into the game ranking fifth nationally at 26.8 points per game but was bottled up early by OSU, being held to just four first half points. The freshman got it going in the second half, spearheading the near comeback and finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Alnatas led the scoring for the Cowgirls with 19 points, followed by double-double performance from two teammates, Milton (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Taylen Collins (12 points and career-high 17 rebounds).

Timpson finished with 15 points, seven boards and two blocks for the Seminoles.

Both teams return to the floor on Friday in Mexico, with OSU squaring off against Harvard at 11 am ET, and FSU taking on Purdue at 1:30 PM ET. Every game of the tournament will be broadcast on FloHoops.