Women's Basketball Claims Tournament Title
Dec. 28, 2001
CORAL GABLES, Fla.-Meghan Saake (Wellington, Fla.) was named Most Valuable Player of the Gatorade Holiday Classic after leading the University of Miami women’s basketball to a 75-46 victory over Yale to claim the championship title Friday night at Knight Sports Complex.
Miami (8-2) remains a perfect 6-0 at home this season, winning the tournament for the second year in a row. Yale falls to 6-4 on the season.Bowling Green (3-8) claimed the consolation title after defeating Lehigh (4-7) 63-55 in the first game of the afternoon.
With Miami’s win over Yale, head coach Ferne Labati earned her 375th career victory in 23 seasons.
Saake averaged 16.5 points, seven rebounds, 5.5 steals and four assists in the tournament.
For the second year in a row junior Alicia Hartlaub (Schaefferstown, Pa.) was named to the all-tournament team. She averaged 11.5 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in the tournament.
Sophomore Hutashi Wilson (Toronto, Canada) was also named to the all-tournament team after averaging 10.5 points and three assists.
Miami tallied a season-high of 23 steals and forced a season-high of 35 turnovers in the win over the Bulldogs. UM scored 38 points off of Yale turnovers.
The Hurricanes pieced together a 10-0 run with 6:18 on the clock and another 10-0 run in the remaining minutes of the first half to take a 16-point lead (40-24) into the locker room at halftime.
Miami remained in total control of the game in the second half cruising to a 29-point margin of victory over the Bulldogs. This is the largest margin of victory for Miami this season.
The win marks the fifth in a row for the Hurricanes and the best start since the 1991-92 season when Miami went 30-2 and won the BIG EAST title.
The Hurricanes are back in action Sunday as they play host to Minnesota at 3 p.m. in Knight Sports Complex.
