In basketball, height often is a difference-maker. But that’s not always the case when you’re playing the University of Miami women’s team, as Florida State found out Sunday.

Physically, the Canes had to look up at the much-taller Seminoles, but at the end of the game it was FSU looking up at a scoreboard that said it had lost. Miami, ranked No. 6 in the nation, used its speed and athleticism, particularly down the stretch, to down the Seminoles 67-60 and win its 39th consecutive home game in front of 3,016 fans at BankUnited Center.

Doing most of the damage for the Hurricanes was the guard duo of Riquna Williams (24 points) and Shenise Johnson (23). The two seniors also were essential in forcing Florida State to commit 24 turnovers, prompting FSU coach Sue Semrau to say, “We will be very happy to see Shenise and Riquna graduate.”

Of the turnovers, Johnson said: “That has to happen for us to win. We have to create turnovers and push the tempo in the game. We’re a lot smaller than anybody else, so we try to speed the game up. That’s what we do. That’s Miami basketball.”

Said UM coach Katie Meier: “It was a very intense basketball game. Way more so than the first time we played them [a 60-57 UM win]. This game was just brutal. Physical. We’re very fortunate to have this win. The game 15 feet in was advantage, Florida State. The other 75 feet had to be advantage, Miami.”

The Canes (24-3, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) are likely to move up to No. 5 in the polls because Duke, currently ranked fifth, lost 63-61 to Maryland on Sunday. The two teams can actually settle it on the court when Miami travels to play the Blue Devils on Friday in its next-to-last regular-season game.

Meier said a possible move up in the rankings is nice but insignificant.

“It really doesn’t matter,” she said. “It’s great for building the program and generating interest. But does that make us hit more free throws? It does nothing for us. We love having a very narrow focus, and we have a mission and our next game is Duke.”

The Maryland upset of Duke was announced during the second half of UM’s victory, drawing a loud cheer from the crowd.

“I was kind of wondering why the crowd was cheering so loud for nothing,” Meier said, tongue firmly planted in cheek. “I didn’t see a dog catching a Frisbee. I figured it might be good news.”

For most of the game, Meier had to endure the Seminoles (13-15, 5-9 ACC) getting easy baskets underneath.

Did she think FSU was exploiting her team in the paint?

“Yes,” Meier said. “You could tell they weren’t going to shoot many threes, and you could tell they would throw the ball inside, and you could tell we had to turn them over. They were getting to their strength and we were getting to our strength. And in the end, when we were able to establish a more powerful front line and turn them over at the top — that was the ballgame.”

Miami’s inside play was hindered when 6-6 center Pepper Wilson got into early foul trouble and logged only four minutes of playing time in the first half.

“We had to pick and choose when we could throw Pepper back in,” Meier said. “We had to come back and grind the game down.”

The triumph marked Meier’s 200th in 11 years of coaching, four at Charlotte and seven at Miami.

How did the milestone feel?

“It feels like I’m old,” she said with a laugh. “No, it’s great, but this is all about this team and these kids.”