This Sunday will be a special night for Florida State women’s basketball (3-1). Natasha Howard will be in the building.
Howard will return to her alma mater, as her No. 16 jersey will be retired at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center when FSU faces Indiana (3-0). The tipoff is at 5 p.m. EST.
Howard was a two-time All-ACC performer who set the school records for most rebounds and double-doubles, a record previously broken by her Indiana Fever teammate, Makayla Timpson, last year.
FSU is coming off an 89-64 victory over Nicholls on Wednesday. After the game, Head coach Brooke Wyckoff spoke briefly about her excitement about seeing Howard again, not only because she is a fellow alumna but also because she coached Howard while she was an assistant coach under Sue Semrau.
“I have so much pride, having played here myself, it just means so much when someone decides to play here and just having to been a small part in her career to see what she was able to do, not only here but after, representing the WNBA and Florida State,” Wyckoff said. “I’m so excited to honor her for a great career. I cannot wait. She is also excited to be back too.”
Howard, 34, completed her 11th season in the WNBA. She is a three-time WNBA champion and two-time All-Star. She has also won various WNBA awards, including Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year and Commissioner’s Cup MVP and has earned First-Team All-WNBA and All-Defensive team honors.
Last season, she signed a one-year deal with the Fever, her third stint with the franchise. She started every game, playing alongside her rookie teammate Timpson, and superstar players like Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston.
Brook Wyckoff makes adjustments in her lineup. Feels confident with her rotation
In the last two games, Wyckoff has made different lineup changes. Granted, she was missing two of her players at the time.
Against UConn, FSU was without Amaya Bonner, and then against Nicholls State, starter Allie Kubek was missing in action. Sophomore Sole Williams, who has been FSU’s top scorer, started the last two games. Senior Sydney Bowles came off the bench against Nicholls State.
Wyckoff expressed her confidence about playing with her new group of players as the Seminole prepared for a three-game stretch against Quad 1 opponents Indiana, Florida and Illinois.
‘That’s what I like about this team. They are capable,” Wyckoff said.
“I feel good about all of them when I put them on the floor at any point, so it’s what’s best at that moment, and you just have to adjust when people are out and got to figure it out.”
The two new additions, Jasmine Shavers and Pania Davis, have started every game thus far for the Seminoles. Shavers, a Texas Tech transfer, dropped a season-high 28 points against Nicholls.
When she was a Red-Raider, she averaged about 15 points a game. As the second-leading scorer, 13.3 points a game, Shavers feels comfortable playing in the Wyckoff system.
“I’m still learning my teammates, and they are still learning me,” Shavers said.
“They are continuing to pour confidence in me every single day. It really goes to my teammates for putting me in a better position to being successful.”
Davis, a 6-foot-6 forward who played junior college, continues to adjust to the fast-paced game after making the transition from the JUCO level. In four games, the Australian native has averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
“It’d definitely been difficult,” Davis said.
“The summer definitely helped when learning the pace of the game and the system, but I played at a pretty fast pace at my JUCO. It kind of transferred over to come in this system, but all my teammates and coaches have been helpful, pushing the pace and everything, running the floor. So I feel comfortable.”
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Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU women’s basketball enters tough non-conference stretch by celebrating Natasha Howard
Reporting by Peter Holland Jr., Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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