UM women play “immature” first quarter, bounced by Virginia Tech in ACC tournament
.jpg "Hanna Cavinder was Miami’s leading scorer with seven points in a 68-42 loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC women’s tournament quarterfinals.")
The University of Miami women’s basketball team is headed home after a lopsided 68-42 loss to eighth-ranked Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
Miami fell behind early, trailed 20-5 after one quarter, and never recovered. The Canes shot just 2-of-17 from the field in the first quarter, while Virginia Tech was 8-of-19.
“Just a very, very immature poorly played first quarter by us,” said UM coach Katie Meier. “When we kind of went off the reservation in the first quarter and took so many early shots that were just rushed and immature, it set us back, obviously.
“But I do not want to take away anything from that performance by Virginia Tech. I can’t believe they only scored 68. They were making such tough shots. They’re incredibly talented.”
Meier conceded that her team was never able to get on track. The Canes shot 24 percent on the night and had no players in double figures. Hanna Cavinder was Miami’s leading scorer with seven points. Kyla Oldacre, Lashae Dwyer and Haley Cavinder had six points each.
Hanna Cavinder said the Hurricanes “just froze” in the early part of the game.
“Every time I thought we just needed a stop or two stops in a row, they would hit a really difficult, very high-level difficult shot,” Meier said. “They were executing their stuff and then they were hitting turnaround jumpers and stepback threes. Just really sophisticated stuff offensively. Obviously, we weren’t.”
Meier also revealed that graduate student Destiny Harden, the heart and soul of the team, was ill and almost didn’t play. The Hurricanes needed her to help defend ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, who scored 22 points.
“Destiny spent most of the morning getting medical care, so she was really not herself,” Meier said. “I don’t usually say that, but you want to know what kind of happened to Miami. Des was not with us, and we weren’t sure she was going to play. I thought that was reflected in her performance, as well, and that’s all I’m going to say on that one.
“She gave us what she could, but she wasn’t herself. That was a big matchup for us and something we weren’t really planning on and something we weren’t expecting.”
Virginia Tech (25-4, 14-4) opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run that pushed its lead to 39-15 and never looked back.
A reporter asked why Meier believes her team deserves an NCAA bid. She did not hesitate, pointing out that the Hurricanes beat the Hokies and North Carolina in the same week during the regular season.
“Body of work, there’s no question,” she said. “Virginia Tech is a very, very high-level team and one poor game against a great team like that that had revenge in their hearts…we beat them at home. We beat them in a week where we beat them and North Carolina, and both teams are high level, and Miami is very good.”
Later in the news conference, she further defended her team’s resume. The Hurricanes finished 19-12 overall and 11-7 in the ACC.
“I want to answer that question about the NCAA again,” Meier said. “That should not even be in doubt. We have too many Quad 1 wins and we have had a heck of a resume. And we’re sitting at 19 wins in the nation’s best conference, and we had 11 ACC wins. And in my lifetime 11 ACC wins is -- we’re not even on the bubble in my opinion. We’re in.”