Syracuse surged ahead to a quick seven-point advantage during the opening 1:57 of its inaugural tilt with Florida State Thursday night.

But from that point forward, Natasha Howard was the one who made the memorable first impression.

The senior Wade Trophy candidate took advantage of the shorthanded Orange (17-8, 6-6 Atlantic Coast), which was without ailing guards Rachel Coffey and Cornelia Fondren. She shattered her previous career high and scored 40 points to lead the Seminoles (17-7, 5-6 Atlantic Coast) to an 83-59 rout in front of 428 fans at the Carrier Dome.

The mark also set a Florida State program record.

“I just go out and just play, no matter what,” Howard said. “Whether or not I score 40 points, I just want to help my team win.”

Just as fast as Syracuse jumped ahead, Howard willed the Seminoles to a commanding lead and didn’t let up.

She scored four quick points on an easy lay-up and two connections at the charity stripe. Following a triple from Morgan Jones, Howard drew another foul and hit both shots to give FSU a lead it would not relinquish.

In total, she scored 14 of the Noles’ first 22 points and finished the opening stanza with 16.

Howard also wreaked havoc on the glass. She and teammate Ivey Slaughter partnered to pull down 17 rebounds while also preventing starting SU center Shakeya Leary from grabbing a single rebound in 17 minutes played.

“She was running the floor well,” Leary said. “Just finishing and being really effective, and, you know, getting to line. Just being real aggressive.”

The Orange also struggled offensively in the first frame, connecting on only one of 10 shots from beyond the arc. That triple was the 73rd for Brianna Butler, who broke a tie with Jaime James for the most 3s in a season in program history.

Meanwhile, Howard continued her dominance out of the halftime break. She scored the first six points of the second half for the Seminoles, whose lead eventually ballooned to 21 within the opening five minutes.

The Ohio native continued to pile up the points until only 56 seconds remained on the clock. She hit the milestone number on yet another free throw, her 12th, before departing for the remainder of the contest.

Even though Howard continued to play well after the game had gotten out of hand, Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman wasn’t ready to cry foul against the FSU bench. He said it’s his team’s responsibility to stop opposing players, no matter the situation.

“They play seven-eight players. That’s their rotation,” Hillsman said. “We can’t wave the flag and say, ‘Please take her out because she has like 48 and nine minutes left in the game, so can you please take her out?’”

SU’s La’Shay Taft scored eight points of her own in the final minute to finish with a team-high 18, but it was nowhere near enough to close the deficit. Syracuse has now lost its previous two games by a combined 61 points.

The win was only the third for Florida State in its past nine contests, and the Seminoles now sit only a half-game behind the Orange in the conference standings.

The game also had special meaning for Howard, whose uncle, LaSean Howard, played two seasons at Syracuse from 1996-1998.

When asked if she was in a zone on the floor, Howard said much of her success stemmed from her unselfish mentality.

“My thought process out there was like get my team the ball first before me and just creating for my teammates, also,” Howard said. “When they get me the ball, I can score and just do my own thing.”

But Florida State head coach Sue Semrau had a much simpler explanation for the record-breaking performance.

“She’s a freak, you guys,” she said with a chuckle. “She might be Tyler Ennis. I don’t know.”

Published on February 13, 2014 at 11:45 pm

Contact Tyler: tfpiccot@syr.edu