No. 10 Miami Thumps Virginia Tech, 79-48

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)– The Miami Hurricanes were forced to use a new lineup, and ended up with the same old result.

Stefanie Yderstrom scored a career-high 22 points to lead the No. 10 Hurricanes, who didn’t miss a beat in a 79-48 win over Virginia Tech on Monday night despite injury and personal issues altering the lineup Miami had started the previous 52 games.

Miami lost starting forward Morgan Stroman for the season with a torn Achilles tendon in the Hurricanes’ 56-53 win at Virginia last Thursday. Riquana Williams, the team’s second-leading scorer, also missed extensive practice before the game against Virginia Tech because of a family issue, according to Miami coach Katie Meier.

Williams came off the bench against the Hokies and played 10 minutes.

“We had a tough week with losing Morgan and Riquna had some family issues that kept her away from practice,” Meier said. “We’re making adjustments.”

The Hurricanes (17-1, 6-1 ACC) had little difficulty doing so against the Hokies. Miami was never threatened after opening the game on a 15-1 run in the first 4:10. Shenise Johnson led Miami’s early scoring surge with nine points.

Later in the first half, Miami scored 11 unanswered points during a 3:15 span and increased the lead to 38-11. Maria Brown’s basket with 4:51 remaining ended the spurt.

“It was strange not having her there,” Johnson said of Stroman, who averaged 12 points a game. “She brings energy. But we had a lot of people step up tonight.”

The Hokies (6-14, 2-5) were held without a field goal for an 8:15 stretch until Aerial Wilson scored consecutive layups within an 18 second-span that reduced Miami’s lead to 40-18 with 59 seconds remaining.

“I couldn’t be more proud of how much composure we played with,” Meier said. “I thought it was one of our best team games of the year.”

Yderstrom shot 7 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers. Johnson finished with 18 points and Shawnice Wilson, who replaced Stroman, scored 12 points for Miami.

“I’m just happy that we won and how we won as a team,” Yderstrom said. “I had some open shots and I made them.”

Miami won its 35th consecutive home game, hours after returning to the top 10 national rankings for the first time since the week of Dec. 19.

Monet Tellier scored 18 points to lead the Hokies, who lost their fifth straight and third consecutive game against a Top 25 team after previous losses against No. 5 Duke and No. 25 North Carolina last week.

“I know they were a little discombobulated with the injury and with whatever went on with Williams, but I was very impressed with them,” Virginia Tech coach Dennis Wolff said. “Conversely, I was very disappointed in our guys, particularly with how we started the game.”

Wilson’s put-back basket with 27 seconds left gave Miami a 42-18 lead at halftime.

Jessica Capers’ basket with 14:11 remaining in the second half gave the Hurricanes their first 30-point lead at 55-25.

POST-GAME NOTES

Starting Something New
Krystal Saunders and Shawnice Wilson registered their first career starts for Miami on Monday night. The two Hurricanes had come off the bench in a combined 62 games before they each made the starting five against Virginia Tech.

D Them Up
The 18 points allowed in the first half by the Hurricanes were the fewest of any period during conference play for Miami in 2011-12, and the best defensive first half since the Canes allowed nine points to Prairie View A&M on Nov. 17. Tech’s 22.2% shooting in the first half was also the worst of any period against Miami in ACC play.

Century Mark
With her lone steal of the first half, senior Sylvia Bullock reached 100 career steals as a Hurricane. She ranks third in steals among active Hurricanes, behind seniors Shenise Johnson (369) and Riquna Williams (244).

Three’s Up
Entering the game as the ACC’s leading three-point shooter with 40 connections from long distance, junior guard Stefanie Yderstrom added four more against the Hokies. Yderstrom, who set a career-high with 22 points on Monday, is now only 10 three-pointers away from topping last year’s total of 53.

They Were…Who We Thought They Were
The Hokies backcourt tandem of Aerial Wilson and Monet Tellier was as good as advertised on Monday night. Wilson and Tellier, who are both ranked among the ACC’s Top-25 scorers, finished with 15 and 18 points respectively against the Hurricanes.