When it was all over Thursday night, they gathered in a circle at midcourt, wrapped their sweaty arms around each other and danced. And then, they danced some more.

The No. 13 University of Miami women’s basketball team had just knocked off No. 5 and previously-unbeaten Maryland 75-63 — the first Canes win over a top-five team in school history — and they allowed themselves a few minutes to celebrate the moment. This wasn’t just another Atlantic Coast Conference win. This was a statement.

The Hurricanes (14-3) held the nation’s highest-scoring team to 21 points below its average of 84.4 points. They outrebounded by eight a taller team that came in with a plus-18 rebounding margin, second-best in the NCAA. And, they extended their home-winning streak to 34 games — the third-longest streak in the country.

They did it riding the shoulders of the shortest player on the court, 5-6 senior guard Riquna “BayBay’’ Williams, who scored 34 points on 50 percent shooting and tied a career-high with eight three-pointers. Williams was known as "The Microwave’’ in her early days at Miami. Thursday night, she earned a new nickname — “Trey-Bay.’’ She also had six rebounds, five of them on the defensive end.

“Incredible performance,’’ said UM coach Katie Meier. “Trey-Bay! And to get five defensive rebounds at her height? She was climbing trees out there.’’

Maryland coach Brenda Frese conceded they had ‘’no answer’’ for Williams.

“She was unstoppable,’’ Frese said. “She was definitely in a zone. We changed up our defense to try and stop her, but couldn’t. Miami did a phenomenal job, their energy, the way they competed for 40 minutes.’’

The Hurricanes won the game despite missing 21 consecutive shots in the first half, and squandering a 12-point lead. They did it with only six points on 2-of-15 shooting from leading scorer Shenise Johnson, an All-America candidate who had reached double digits in a national-best 87 consecutive games.

Meier grabbed Johnson in the locker room after the game and gave her a pep talk, reminded her that her nine rebounds, four assists and three steals were huge and that her leadership was even bigger. “I told her, ‘It is a credit to you that we could win this game [without her usual offensive output]. You have rebuilt this program, helped us recruit your supporting cast. Just relax, and enjoy what a moment this is.’ ’’

Williams scored 15 points in the first nine minutes to give UM a 22-10 lead. Then, the Canes went cold and the Terrapins (16-1) went on a 25-6 run extending to the second half to go ahead 35-28. Morgan Stroman, Sylvia Bullock and Stefanie Yderstrom stepped up to close the gap, and Williams hit three threes in a row to give UM a 50-48 lead and another to take the lead for good with 5:34 left.