UM women beat FSU 64-54 — their first home win over the Seminoles in seven years
Energized by one of its largest crowds of the season, the 14-ranked University of Miami women’s basketball team rallied to beat 22nd-ranked archrival Florida State 64-54 Sunday afternoon at the Watsco Center.
It was UM’s first home win over FSU in seven years and an especially important win for the Hurricanes, who had earned national attention after beating then-No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 2 Louisville but suffered a setback with a road loss to unranked Virginia Tech.
This time of year, with March looming, every victory is crucial as teams jockey for position in the conference standings and vie for NCAA Tournament seedings. Entering Sunday’s game, UM (23-6, 11-3 ACC) was tied for third place behind Notre Dame and Louisville, and FSU (21-6, 9-5 ACC) was right behind in fourth place.
ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme said Sunday’s win bumped Miami up to a projected No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was UM’s sixth win over a ranked team this season.
The Hurricanes trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, then led by 14 in the second half before the Seminoles made a late push to get as close as four points with under two minutes to go.
“What a tough game, gosh,” said a relieved UM coach Katie Meier. “Florida State, they’re so good defensively. It’s so hard to find what they’re going to give you. They’re so smart. They rotate. I really thought our defense changed the game. When we weren’t scoring, I’ve had teams in the past that were irrational and immature, but this team was like, `Ok, we’re going to keep getting stops, keep grinding, dig through our bag of tricks and eventually we’ll score.’”
Sophomore guard Mykea Gray led the Canes with 19 points and four steals. She was 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Center Beatrice Mompremier recorded her 21st double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Emese Hof had 14 points, and Laura Cornelius 10.
FSU coach Sue Semrau praised Mompremier and Hof, and said of the game: “That’s just Miami-Florida State. Lots of swings. It’s always one of those games where you don’t know how it’s going to go.”
Both teams wore bright pink sneakers and pink-trimmed uniforms to honor breast cancer survivors and support cancer research. Meier said she hoped her team inspired fans who may be struggling.
“We fight, so if there’s somebody out there going through a hard time and came to that game and we could inspire them...because it didn’t look good. We just stayed resilient, and that’s something every cancer survivor needs to know. Just stay resilient. Eventually there’s a blessing ahead.”
The Hurricanes struggled early, turned the ball over six times in the first quarter, and fell behind 16-8. They trailed by as many as 14 in the second quarter before finding their groove. Miami went on a 22-4 run to close the first half and take a 30-26 lead into the locker room.
Gray said: “We fight. No matter how down we are at that moment we always find a way to bounce back. I wasn’t aware of the history of this game, but after, the trainer said it’s been a while (since UM beat FSU at home). This was for the coaches, the team and everyone the supports UM.”
Meier thanked the crowd of 2,339 for “keeping us in the game.” She said even when she was scrambling to find ways to break FSU’s defense, “the crowd stayed faithful. This game was really, really important to us. I did not tell my team everything that was on the line in this game. I had to keep my team in the zone. They didn’t need any more pressure. But this one was really important.”