Florida State women's basketball received tough news just over 24 hours ahead of its NCAA Women's Tournament first-round game against Georgia.

Freshman sensation guard Ta'Niya Latson was ruled out for the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury, the university announced in a press release Thursday morning.

The Seminoles (23-9) play No. 10 Georgia (21-11) at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the first round at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Latson missed FSU's first-round loss to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament but was expected to return against the Bulldogs.

Latson is averaging 21.3 points along with 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor. She earned honorable mention All-America honors by both the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association, announced on Wednesday, and also earlier received ACC Rookie of the Year and was an All-ACC First Team performer.

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"It was something that cropped up right before the ACC Tournament," FSU head coach Brooke Wyckoff said in a press conference Thursday. "She was day-to-day, it was not a season-ending injury.

"But at this point, our medical team, our group as a whole and Ta'Niya just decided she wouldn't be ready for this tournament, unfortunately.

"We're going to miss her, but we're still excited about this matchup and this opportunity. We'll be ready to go."

Wyckoff did not detail Latson's injury.

"I can't speak to the injury at all. I'm sorry. We're just not at the point where we're going to talk about what kind of injury it is," Wyckoff said.

Sophomore guard O’Mariah Gordon will also be out for the remainder of the NCAA postseason due to injury, leaving FSU with eight healthy players against the Bulldogs.

The Seminoles have dealt with injuries throughout the season, so they are confident they can play with just three reserves.

"Fortunately or unfortunately, we've been in this situation before throughout the season," Wyckoff said. We've been down to eight players at certain times, so that's one of the things that I love about our group, is that we only have 10, but I feel that -- I've always felt we're deep. Any of those 10 are capable and ready to step in and play and give valuable minutes.

"And so we're back to that again where we take who we have on any given day and go out and do what we do. So our philosophy hasn't changed at all as I said earlier. We have to be the best versions of ourselves and understand that, yes, it's going to be physical. This is NCAA tournament time."

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How FSU can replace Ta'Niya Latson's production

Latson averaged an ACC-best 21.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game on 45.5% shooting from the field. She shot 36% from 3-point range and 85% from the free throw line.

She started 31 of the 32 games for the Seminoles this season, only missing a first-round matchup against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament.

Gordon, who started for Latson in the ACC Tournament, averaged 6.9 points per game coming off the bench for the Seminoles.

"It's going to be challenging, but we still feel pretty confident going into the game," FSU forward Makayla Timpson said. "Obviously we lose our scoring guard and our point guard, but we still have other people that will have to step up for us and we feel pretty confident."

Guards Sarah Bejedi and Jazmine Massengill, as well as forwards Timpson and Erin Howard had been starting the majority of the season with Latson.

Timpson was second on the team with 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, while Bejedi averaged 11 points and 2.4 assists per game and forward Erin Howard added 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game.

"We just have to be mentally tough and go in knowing that we were gonna play 20-plus minutes," Howard said. "We just have to be mentally prepared. So I don't really think there's a pace that we have to change at all but just knowing that we have to contribute or can be ready to go out there and give our best."

Bucknell graduate transfer Taylor O'Brien is someone the team could look to start and get more involved in the offense. She started the first three games of the season and averaged 16.3 points per game.

O'Brien went down with an injury during the third game and missed the next 10 games.

She finished the season averaging 6.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game but has proven herself as a capable player.

Freshman Brianna "Snoop" Turnage averaged 2.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 22 games. She returned for the ACC Tournament following an injury herself.

"We have a lot of other amazing weapons on the team that can do just that, and have been doing it all season," Wyckoff said.

"So we'll just have to continue to do that. Again, for us and to be able to win an NCAA tournament it's going to be about the defensive end, defending Georgia, and finishing with a rebound so we can get out and run."

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: How FSU women's basketball replaces Ta'Niya Latson in March Madness