Cavinder twins make debut as UM Hurricanes cruise past Barry 88-28 in exhibition win
Ever since their arrival on campus over the summer, the Cavinder twins have been proving to teammates and to coach Katie Meier that they are basketball players first and TikTok stars second.
On Wednesday night, they made that clear to Hurricanes fans during an 88-28 UM exhibition win over Barry University.
Haley Cavinder scored the first UM points of the season on a three-pointer 58 seconds into the game. Her sister, Hanna, entered the game later in the first quarter and had two points, three rebounds and an assist over a six-minute stretch.
The twin guards, who transferred from Fresno State, have four million TikTok followers and have made an estimated $1 million in name, image and likeness sponsorship deals. But their first love is basketball; and their work ethic has been evident since they joined the UM team.
Haley finished the night with 10 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal. Hanna struggled with her shot (1-of-6 for three points) but had six assists, four rebounds and a steal.
“I love the way Haley started the game,” said Meier. “It’s very hard to come here and learn all this new language and try to figure out what coach wants and she started very, very confidently. A lot of dialogue during the game, some fun dialogue. I had a huge smile (when Haley hit the three). That’s good for everybody.”
Haley Cavinder conceded she was a little nervous before the game because she didn’t know what to expect. “I just relied on my preparation, my teammates and I had fun,” she said.
Meier was pleased with Hanna’s six assists but urged her to have more confidence in her shot. “I thought she hesitated from head to hand,” Meier said. “She has an incredible basketball mind, is a play ahead, she’s sharing the ball like crazy and I’m yelling at her because she’s passing up shots I thought she should make. She is a nice scorer and she doesn’t need to doubt herself.”
Lola Pendande, a 6-4 senior forward from Spain, led the Hurricanes with 17 points in 22 minutes on 8-of-11 shooting. She also had eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Graduate student Destiny Harden sat most of the first half after two early fouls, but got hot late and had 11 points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes.
Freshman forward Lazaria Spearman of Dacula, Ga., came off the bench and had 10 points and eight rebounds in nine minutes.
The Division II Buccaneers were no match for the Hurricanes, who reached the ACC championship game last spring and lost to eventual national champion South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Miami raced to a 23-4 lead on Wednesday and was ahead 70-20 by the end of the third quarter.
UM shot 51 percent for the game while the Bucs struggled at 19 percent. Miami had 18 steals, forced Barry into 28 turnovers, held a 32-3 edge on points off turnovers, outrebounded Barry 59-31 and outscored the Bucs 56-8 in the paint.
“Big effort, fun start,” Meier said. “Our pressure on the ball is something they don’t see very often and our size was overwhelming for them, but they never got frustrated and that’s a credit to their coach.”
Several players from the men’s team attended the game and participated in the halftime halfcourt shooting contest. Jordan Miller and Filippos Gkogkos made their shot. Both teams tip off the regular season on Nov. 7. The women open at 4 p.m. against Maryland-Eastern Shore, followed by the men’s game at 7 p.m. vs Lafayette.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 8:43 PM.