UM women withstand late Clemson rally, beat Tigers 59-54 to stay in ACC title race
It is mid-February, which means college basketball teams are jockeying for position in the conference standings and every game is critical.
The University of Miami women’s team withstood a late Clemson rally Thursday night to come away with a 59-54 home victory that keeps the Hurricanes in the race for the ACC title and a high seed in the league tournament.
Haley Cavinder and Destiny Harden led the way with 17 points apiece and widened UM’s lead every time the Tigers got within striking distance. Harden went 7-of-13 from the floor and had 11 of the team’s 26 rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals.
“Destiny was all over the place,” UM coach Katie Meier said. “She held it down and stayed calm the whole game.”
Asked how she kept her poise, even when Clemson carved away at Miami’s lead, Harden said: “Being a vet and knowing how big these games are.”
UM improved to 17-9 overall and 10-5 in the ACC, battling with Florida State, Louisville and Virginia Tech for third place.
The Hurricanes are 10-3 since the start of January and were eager to get back to winning after a 50-40 loss to ninth-ranked Duke on the road last Sunday.
Although Miami was disappointed with that result, the Canes proved they are among the league’s better defensive teams. They held the Blue Devils to 50 points, 17 below their season average. The only other team that held Duke to 50 was sixth-ranked UConn.
Four days after stifling Duke, the Hurricanes played tenacious defense against Clemson for much of the game before the Tigers got hot in the fourth quarter and used a 12-2 run to close the gap to four points with under a minute to go.
“They come back as well as anyone in the league, and if that looked panicky, I’ll tell you what, we did an excellent job,” Meier said. “For us to grind out the clock and get ball to who we needed to, that was fantastic.”
Miami scored 25 points off 21 Clemson turnovers, had nine steals and six blocks.
The Tigers shot 42 percent through the first two quarters while Miami shot 63 percent — including 91 percent in the second quarter. “That second quarter you saw a really great Miami team,” Meier said. “We locked in, played defense and scored 23 points.”
When the teams last met two weeks ago at Clemson, the game went to overtime before the Hurricanes eked out a 69-66 win. This time, UM stayed in control all night and led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter. Clemson dropped to 14-14 and 5-11 in the ACC.
The Hurricanes are on the road for the next two games, at Syracuse on Sunday and at Louisville next Thursday before returning home for the regular-season finale against Virginia on Feb. 26 at noon.
Meier said the game at Syracuse will be their toughest test of the year.
“They’re fighting for an NCAA bid, we’re feeling OK, but you can’t have any slipups,” Meier said. “This is a long trip, a tough place to play, and they’ve got guards who can score. But if we bring defense and rebounding, we’re going to be fine.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 8:59 PM.