Last year's run in the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament weren't ideal for Florida State women's basketball.

Its star guard and ACC Freshman of the Year, Ta'Niya Latson, who was averaging 21.3 points a game, suffered a season-ending injury before the ACC Tournament.

Her absence was felt as No. 5 seed FSU lost 65-54 to 12th-seeded Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

The Seminoles lost O'Mariah Gordon to injury in that game and saw their roster dwindle to eight players heading into the NCAA Tournament.

A 66-54 loss to Georgia in the first round ended FSU's postseason run.

However, this year, with more experience and a healthy roster, the Seminoles (21-9, 12-6) hope to make a deep run this postseason. That journey starts in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday against the winner between No. 11 Virginia or No. 14 Wake Forest.

"It's March and so we've got several players on our team that have some experience in this tournament and it's just another year of experience under their belt," FSU head coach Brooke Wyckoff said. "I feel like we're primed to be able to go in and take care of business as much as possible."

Dependable depth, scoring

Health and depth have been the keys to FSU's success this season.

Outside of one or two games, its four top scorers Makayla Timpson (14.2 points), Sara Bejedi (12.5 points), Latson (21.4 points) and Gordon (13.4 points) have played every game this season.

The four have been a stable consistent force for the Seminoles all season, helping the Seminoles post a second straight 20-win regular season and a bye into the ACC Tournament.

Timpson and Latson earned All-ACC First Team honors and an additional All-ACC Defensive Team honor for Timpson.

Unlike this time last season, FSU is heading into postseason play with an entirely healthy roster and what Wyckoff believes the rough moments of the season behind them.

"Ta'Niya Latson and Makayla Timpson have had phenomenal seasons and we've just overall battled some adversity and some rough moments in January," Wyckoff said. "I felt like we turned it around and were able to finish strong coming through February to put us in a great position to work for a six seed."

A different team from January

January was costly when it came to FSU's hopes of securing a double-bye in the ACC Tournament and a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

It lost a nail-biting game to then-No. 3 NC State in overtime 88-80, but still gave the Seminoles a strong look.

Two weeks later it began a three-game losing streak to Syracuse, Virginia and Duke. FSU's loss to Virginia dropped it to No. 23 in the AP Poll and a proceeding 42-point to Duke had the Seminoles out of the poll for the rest of the season.

However, from that point on, FSU went 7-2 to close out the regular season.

We just really we're able to refocus and get back to real our identity on both ends of the floor," Wyckoff said. "We realized what our strengths are and really keying in on those."

Not taking the opponent lightly

One of the Seminoles' potential opponents that is heating up at the right time is Virginia.

The No. 11 seed, who will play No. 14 Wake Forest in a first-round game on Wednesday, went 7-11 in ACC Play this season, but has ripped off wins over No. 15 FSU, No. 20 North Carolina, No. 20 Louisville and most recently No. 5 Virginia Tech.

In its win over the Seminoles, 91-87, on Jan. 21, the Cavaliers had not won in Tallahassee since 2012 and had gone 1-59 in its last 60 games against ranked opponents. Virginia is 4-8 against ranked opponents this season.

Coming off an 80-75 win over No. 5 Virginia Tech, who is the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament, on Sunday, the Cavaliers could shock some people this month. FSU needs to be cautious.

No. 14 Wake Forest has struggled all season as the bottom-dweller of the ACC. The Demon Deacons went 2-16 in conference play, losing 14 straight from Dec. 31 to Feb. 18.

Wake Forest and Virginia tip off in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Up next

Who: No. 6 Florida State (21-9, 12-6) vs. No. 11 Virginia (15-14, 7-11) or No. 14 Wake Forest (6-24, 12-16)

When: Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC.

TV: ACC Network

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU women's basketball looks to depth heading into ACC Tournament