UM women stave off fourth-quarter UNC rally, win 76-68
The University of Miami womens’ basketball team made sure North Carolina fans didn’t get to celebrate two days in row. The Hurricanes dominated the Tar Heels for three quarters Sunday, staved off a fourth-quarter UNC rally, and won 76-68 at the Watsco Center.
A day earlier, in the same building, the UM men fell short 85-76 against the 13th-ranked Tar Heels.
“Three quarters doesn’t usually get you the win. We were very fortunate,” said UM coach Katie Meier, whose team was outscored 28-15 in the final quarter. “I did say going into the fourth, there’s a couple teams in the league that can score 30 in the fourth, Carolina is one of them and we were lucky it was the final 10 minutes and we could recover.”
Among the fans at the game Sunday was U.S. Representative and former UM president Donna Shalala, who sat courtside.
UM center Beatrice Mompremier scored 18 points and 10 rebounds, her 14th double-double of the season, which leads the Atlantic Coast Conference. Mykea Gray had 17 points and six assists. Laura Cornelius grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to go with nine points. UM is 16-4, 4-1 ACC.
The Hurricanes went on a 21-0 run early, and led by 20 at the half, 42-22. North Carolina’s 6-4 center Janelle Bailey, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, was benched the first half for disciplinary reasons. She returned in the second half, and gave the Tar Heels a lift with nine points and five rebounds. Stephanie Watts led UNC with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
“I have a ton of respect for Coach (Sylvia) Hatchell and how she runs her program,” Meier said. “I know they had a disciplinary issue. We coach and we teach lessons. I know she won’t have any regrets over that because her team’s better for it. Janelle Bailey’s a heck of a player. They needed size against us, didn’t have it in the first half.”
The Hurricanes improved to 16-4, 4-1 in the ACC. Their next game is at Syracuse on Wednesday.