Hurricanes Storm by Cornell for Ninth Win of Season
Dec. 21, 2009
ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team (9-1) dominated every facet of the game in a 101-62 win over the Cornell Big Red (5-4), Monday night at the Newman Arena.
Riquna Williams picked up her first career double-double with 24 points and a career-high 10 assists on the night. The Pahokee, Fla. native also hit a game-high four three pointers and now has a league leading 35 treys on the season. The 5-7 sophomore also leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 24.1 points per game.
Another super sophomore reached a career-high as Shenise Johnson scored 27 points in front of a large crowd of friends and family from her nearby hometown of Rochester, N.Y. Johnson also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Also scoring in double-digits was Shanel Williams and senior Diane Barnes with 13 and 11 points respectively. Eight games into her freshman campaign, S. Williams was averaging 2.3 points per contest, but she hit three three-pointers against the Big Red. Barnes also added seven rebounds coming off the bench.
Sylvia Bullock grabbed eight rebounds and scored eight points in a strong effort. In her second start in as many games, freshman Morgan Stroman scored eight points and added a pair of steals.
Miami had little trouble in the opening half, utilizing a full court press in the opening minutes, jumping to a 36-13 lead after only 10 minutes. Johnson led all scorers with 17 first-half points. R. Williams added 14 points and six assists in only 13 minutes of play in the opening frame. Coming into the contest R. Williams’ career high in assists was five.
For the second time this season, the Hurricanes scored over the century mark – they were one-point shy of tying the school-record in a 111-93 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Nov.15.
Even though Miami hit 11 threes – the second-most this season, it also dominated the paint – outscoring Cornell 44-16. UM committed a season-low nine turnovers while forcing a season-high 26 and outpaced the home team in points off turnovers 30-4.
The `Canes grabbed 45 rebounds in the game – 25 on the offensive end. It was the third time this season that Miami pulled down more offensive rebounds than its opponent had on the defensive end (22).
With a 9-1 record on the season, the Hurricanes are off to their best start since the 2003-04 season – the last time they advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The `Canes also improved to 5-0 record on the road.
Miami returns to the BankUnited Center on Monday, Dec. 28 as it faces Quinnipiac in the first round of the Wyndham Miami Holiday Tournament at 5 p.m. The 17th-ranked Texas Longhorn will open the tournament against Central Michigan at 3 p.m.
For ticket information, please call 1-800-GO-CANES or visit hurricanesports.com
