Williams Nets 1,000th Point to Lead Hurricanes

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team saw junior guard Riquna Williams score her 1,000th career point in the Hurricanes 96-64 victory over Miami (OH), Saturday afternoon at the BankUnited Center.

Williams came into the game needing 17 points to reach the scoring plateau and with 8:47 remaining, the Pahokee, Fla. native took a pass from fellow junior Shenise Johnson on a fast break and laid it in easily.

Williams, a Second Team All-ACC selection a season ago scored 707 points as a sophomore – the third most prolific single season total in program history.

Johnson ended the contest with a game-high 24 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds, recording her second double-double of the season and the 18th of her career. The Henrietta, N.Y. native also had her hand in on an early season-best five steals.

The Hurricane defense continued its frantic pace of forcing turnovers. Kennesaw State committed 32 and Nebraska was forced into 26, Saturday the RedHawks ended the game with 23 turnovers – 19 on steals from the `Canes.

For much of the opening half it looked like the Hurricanes might be in for a long game, but Katie Meier’s bunch forced Miami (OH) head coach Maria Fantanarosa to take her second timeout of the half after four consecutive points from Williams pushed the score to 38-30 with 3:08 to go.

Williams led all scorers at the half with nine points.

The `Canes opened the second period with a 20-4 run over the first four-and-a-half minutes, behind six points from Johnson and five from Williams.

As a team, the Hurricanes were the second-highest scoring team in the ACC last season and through the first three games of the 2010-11 campaign, they have picked up where they left off – averaging 91.3 points per game.

The Hurricanes have a short break before hosting UAB this Monday at 7 p.m. at the BankUnited Center.

POST-GAME NOTES

Today’s Starters
Riquna Williams, Shenise Johnson, Morgan Stroman, Stefanie Yderstrom, and Sylvia Bullock started the game for the Hurricanes.

Twins
There are two other pairs of namesakes in NCAA Division I basketball other than Miami (FL) and Miami (OH). They are St. Francis (NY, PA) of the Northeast Conference and Loyola (IL) of the Horizon League and Loyola (MD) of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

In the books…
Freshman Maria Brown scored her first career points on a layup with 13:54 remaining in the first half.

In the club…
Riquna became the 21st player in Miami women’s basketball history to record 1,000 career points with her layup with 8:47 remaining in the second half. Teammate Shenise Johnson reached the milestone last season.

Off the bench…
Freshmen Krystal Saunders, in just her third career game, tallied a career high with 8 points.

Looking on…
President Donna Shalala was in attendance in her usual courtside seats.

Out of the locker room…
The Hurricanes went on a 20-4 run to start the second half to open up the game.

Double it up…
Shenise Johnson has now scored in double figures in 40 straight games. The junior also collected 11 rebounds registering her 18th career double-double.

Bring it down…
Sophomore guard Shanel Williams matched a career-high with six rebounds. She also brought down six boards last season against Quinnipiac.

Keeping control
The Hurricanes recorded 19 assists compared to just 10 turnovers. Miami (FL) was able to score 27 points off of turnovers.

I’ll take that…
Miami (FL) racked up 19 more steals Saturday. They have 57 overall through three games.

O-hi-o
Miami University is the only team from Ohio the `Canes have faced during Katie Meier’s tenure as head coach (2005-06). Overall the Hurricanes are now 8-3 against teams from the Buckeye state.

Three-point streak
With nine triples, the Hurricanes have recorded a three-pointer in 295 straight games dating back to the 2000-01 season.

Everybody
All ten players on the Hurricanes’ active roster scored at least two points. Four of the five starters reached at least 13 points.

Offensive explosion…
The Hurricanes have scored at least 85 points in each of their first three games. They achieved the same feat last season.