The 10th-ranked University of Miami women’s basketball team won its 36th home game in a row Thursday night at BankUnited Center, and though the 64-39 win over Wake Forest wasn’t as thrilling or pleasing to the eye as some of the Hurricanes’ other victories during the streak, coach Katie Meier took great pride in her team’s grit and defense.

The Canes held the Demon Deacons to 25 percent shooting (15 of 60), outrebounded them 50-40, and no Wake Forest player scored in double digits.

“It was an ugly win for us, and that’s a compliment to Wake Forest and what they do,” Meier said. “It was really kind of disjointed and gritty and grimy and scrummy, and that’s how you have to play them.”

Wake Forest coach Mike Petersen said simply, “Miami’s a lot better than us.” He went on to praise UM’s athleticism and coaching.

“They have really good players, Katie’s a really good coach, and they play really hard,” Petersen said. “Basketball’s not a hard game. It’s not rocket science. It’s five people running around in short pants. You’re on the road against the eighth-ranked [in the ESPN poll] team in the country, you shoot 25 percent, guess what? You’re not gonna win.”

Hurricanes senior guard Riquna “Bay-Bay” Williams did not start for the second game in a row. She has been dealing with an ill family member and has been distracted. Krystal Saunders started in her place, scored the first basket and scored again four minutes later to give UM an early 8-7 lead.

Then Williams came off the bench at 14:52 and showed almost immediately why she is one of the most feared players in the ACC. She grabbed a defensive rebound, raced up the court and hit the Canes’ first three-pointer of the night. Two minutes later, she dribbled through traffic and scored on a driving layup to put UM ahead 13-9. By halftime, she led the Canes with nine points, and she finished tied with Stefanie Yderstrom with a team-high 14 points.

Yderstrom was coming off a career-best, 22-point night against Virginia Tech, and she was a key player again Thursday. She made three from beyond the arc, had six rebounds, four assists and an uncharacteristically high three blocks. UM improved to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest fell to 12-8 and 2-5 in the ACC.

UM All-America candidate Shenise Johnson was held to five first-half points, but she gave the Demon Deacons fits inside with 10 rebounds and three blocks before halftime. She wound up with 10 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and two steals.

“My shot wasn’t falling. I was like 0 for 4 at the start, so I said, ‘OK, let me do something else, distribute the ball and rebound,’ ” Johnson said. “It was grimy out there, felt like an ACC tourney game, with them riding us with their bodies straight up. We’re not used to that. They messed up our timing on offense.”

Meier noticed Johnson’s effort.

“Seemed like she had 10 rebounds by the first media [timeout],” Meier said. “I kind of yelled at the team, ‘Does anyone else but Mo want to rebound? At halftime she had 10, and no one else had more than three.”

Two busloads of children from the Miami-Dade Police Athletic League injected the 1,648 fans with energy, and for the 36th time in a row, they went home happy.

Wake Forest center Sandra Garcia, a Miami native who went to Plantation American Heritage, had two points and six rebounds. Secily Ray led the Demon Deacons with nine points.