Brianne O'Rourke dribbled into a double team and was stripped by Angel Gray who began to break down the court in the opposite direction.

It was only a minute into the Lady Lions' 73-60 loss to Florida State, Wednesday night in Tallahassee, but by the time the senior O'Rourke had fouled Gray in response, the Seminoles had already seized control of their Women's ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup.

The play epitomized an opening 14 minutes in which Florida State jumped out to a 20-point lead, capitalizing off of Penn State turnovers, fouls and early rebounding trouble.

"We didn't take care of the boards," assistant coach Kia Damon said. "When we made our runs we were controlling the boards."

After falling behind early, the Lady Lions, led by Tyra Grant, who netted 18, cut the lead to seven early in the second half, but never got any closer.

The junior guard's tenth point marked the 1,000th of her career, making her the 31st Lady Lion to reach the milestone, and just the 14th to do so as a junior.

But although the Grant-led Lady Lions, who fell to 4-3 with the loss, made several pushes in the second half, they couldn't overcome their shaky start.

One of their best chances to do so came with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half. An O'Rourke 3-pointer capped a 6-0 Lady Lion run to cut the score to 52-42.

But, as they did all night, the Seminoles had an answer.

After a 30-second timeout, Florida State guard Alysha Harvin found herself open in 3-point territory and coolly knocked down the shot, giving the Seminoles a 13-point lead that they would never relinquish.

"The thing about the Seminoles is we match them speed for speed," Damon said. "But we just got off to a rough start."

Harvin netted 14 points and had 4 assists for the Seminoles, who were led in scoring by Jacinta Monroe who had 18.

With the loss, the Lady Lion dropped to a 1-3 mark in games played away from Happy Valley.

But the game represented the end to a four-game road trip, as the Lady Lions will host Dayton at noon Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Damon said the return home would provide relief to a weary Lady Lion squad.

"It'll be great to get home for a couple of games to rest up and get off the road," Damon said. "I know the kids are looking forward to being back at the Bryce Jordan Center."