Hurricanes Advance To Tournament Final

Dec. 28, 1999

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami (5-3, 0-0 BIG EAST) and Southern Methodist (4-5, 0-1 WAC) will face off in the title game of the 1999 Gatorade Hurricane Holiday Classic tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Knight Sports Complex at the Coral Gables campus. Maryland (7-3, 0-1 ACC) and Brown (4-5, 0-0 Ivy) will play in the consolation game at 2 p.m.

In game one of the tournament, the ‘Canes defeated Brown, 79-62. UM went on a 10-0 run late in the first half to take a 42-24 advantage into halftime. The Hurricanes extended the lead to 23 points on a Gina Graziani jumper at the 16:30 mark in the second stanza before the Bears battled back to come within 13 with 2:28 on the clock. The Hurricanes went 6-8 from the foul line in the final minutes to put the game out of reach.

Sheila James scored 15 points to lead four Hurricanes in double figures. Meghan Saake followed with 14 as Graziani and Kathryn Fowler chipped in with 13 apiece. Saake grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Brown was led by Barbara Maloni who scored a career-high 25 points. Rachael McDonald led the Bears in rebounding with eight caroms.

Southern Methodist handed Maryland a, 72-65, loss in the second game of the tournament to advance to the title game. The game was tied 25-25 going into intermission before the Mustangs took the lead for good on a Kaci Alexander lay-up to start the second half. SMU outscored the Terrapins 47-40 in the second half while forcing Maryland to shoot a dismal .394 from the field.

D-dra Rucker led SMU with 27 points, shooting 10-for-19 from the field. Karlin Kennedy (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Nici Johnson (11 points, 10 rebounds) managed double-doubles.

The Terrapins were led by Tiffany Brown’s 21 points in a team-high 39 minutes of action.