@MiamiWBB Drops Road Game at Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH – Playing its fourth consecutive Sunday road game, the University of Miami fell 81-66 Sunday at Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center.Miami (15-6, 5-3 ACC) and Pittsburgh played a superb back-and-forth first half and it was Michelle Woods who was the main story for the Hurricanes in the opening session.

The redshirt junior guard scored 11 straight points for the Hurricanes, connecting on a trio of three-pointers and a tough bucket in the paint.

“She was just really strong with the ball and they were giving [Adrienne] Motley a lot of attention so it opened up some lanes for Chelley and I thought she had a great recognition,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said.

It marked the first time all season that Woods recorded double digits in the first half and she scored all 11 in a span of under five minutes.

Freshman forward Eykah Davenport also provided a big spark off the bench for Miami before the break. She recorded seven points and four rebounds in 10 minutes of first half action. Twice Davenport grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed free throw and scored.

Senior guard Suriya McGuire also had seven points at halftime and shot 5-of-6 from the stripe in the opening 20 minutes.

Miami limited Pittsburgh (14-7, 4-4 ACC) to 34.5 percent shooting in the first half. However, the Panthers went 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) at the free throw line and led 37-32 entering the locker room.

“I think we got hurt a little bit, we had the lead by one . . .  and then [Michelle Woods] asked for a sub,” Meier said. “She kind of cramped up and I think that really hurt us and it allowed Pittsburgh to sort of close the half, which took a little bit of the wind out of our sails.”

Pittsburgh finished the half on an 11-5 run after Woods’ exit, including scoring the final six points of the session. Then, the Panthers opened the second on a 12-2 run for a 15-point advantage with 16:25 to go.

With quite a bit of time to play, the Hurricanes would not cave. Miami countered with a quick 12-4 spurt to make it 53-45 with 13:30 on the clock. A three-pointer from sophomore Jessica Thomas, who played just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, capped the Miami run.

Pittsburgh was able to maintain its lead though, as the Panthers got hot minutes later from three-point range and would not let the Hurricanes get any closer. At one point, Pittsburgh last four made field goals were from beyond the arc.

Sophomore guard Adrienne Motley led Miami with 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Erykah Davenport scored a career-high 13 points and rebounds.

“We needed our posts to step up today,” Meier said. “I challenged Jazz [Williams], Erykah and Khaila [Prather] and Erykah really responded.”

Michelle Woods finished with 11 points, while Suriya McGuire chipped in with 10 points on 8-of-10 shooting at the line and also led all players with nine rebounds.

Pittsburgh senior guard Brianna Kiesel, the fifth leading scorer in the ACC, paced all players with 23 points, seven assists and five steals. Freshman forward Stasha Carey, grad student forward Monica Wignot and sophomore guard Chelsea Welch also finished with double figures for the Panthers.

Miami returns to the court for its first home game in over two weeks when it hosts Virginia Tech Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the BankUnited Center.

“Well, the conference is about who you play, where you play them and when you play them,” Meier said of returning to the BUC for a home game. “We’re in a tough stretch right now. The wheels haven’t fallen off by any stretch of the imagination, but you go on the road and you’re missing just 10 percent of your defensive effort, you’ll lose. Well, we were missing 20 percent of our defensive effort tonight against quite possibly the best point guard in the league.”

The Hurricanes defeated the Hokies 62-45 in Blacksburg, Va. in their ACC road opener Jan. 11. 

MIAMI HURRICANES POSTGAME NOTES

• Miami’s starting five consisted of Suriya McGuire, Adrienne Motley, Necole Sterling, Jessica Thomas, and Jassany Williams for the sixth game in a row.
• Miami’s lead over Pittsburgh in the all-time series is now 17-9.
• Katie Meier’s career record moves to 254-172 in 14 seasons as a head coach.
• Meier is now 178-127 in 10 years at Miami.
• This is the first time all season that Miami has lost consecutive games.
• Pittsburgh’s Brianna Kiesel is the first player to record five-plus steals against Miami since Richmond’s Kristina King (11/10/13).
• Miami had not allowed 80-plus points since Georgia Tech scored 89 (2/9/14).
• Pittsburgh’s Monica Wignot and Stasha Carey both had five blocks. No opponent had recorded five blocks against Miami since Quinnipiac’s Jackie Mann (12/28/09).
• The Hurricanes had a 48-38 edge in rebounding, including 23-11 on the offensive end. Miami also had a 31-8 advanatge on second chance points.
• Michelle Woods has scored in double digits in four of the last five games after doing so three times in the first 16 games of the season.
• After setting a new season high with 30 minutes in the last game (at Louisville, 1/25/15), Michelle Woods again played 30 minutes. Woods also equaled her career high with 13 field goal attempts (previous vs. Tennessee, 11/12/12).
• Erykah Davenport’s 13 points passed her prior career high of nine (vs. Jacksonville, 12/6/14).
• Davenport’s six made field goals are also a career best (previous four vs. Jacksonville, 12/6/14), as are her six offensive rebounds (previous four at Duke, 1/18/14).
• Adrienne Motley scored double figures for the 18th time in 21 games. She has scored eight-plus in all but one game.
• Motley has also posted 15-plus points 16 times this season. Additionally, the sophomore surpassed 1,500 minutes played as a collegian.
• Suriya McGuire‘s eight free throws made matched her career high (previously done multiple times, most recently vs. Coppin State, 12/13/14). Her 10 free throw attempts equaled her season best (multiple times, most recently vs. UCLA, 12/18/14).
• McGuire also passed 100 rebounds for the third season in a row.
• Senior forward Necole Sterling tied her season high with three assists (previous vs. Illinois State, 11/28/14).
• Freshman forward Khaila Prather matched her career best with six rebounds (previously done multiple times, most recently vs. Virginia, 1/21/15). She also eclipsed 250 minutes played in her career.
• Redshirt senior forward Jassany Williams recorded the 50th start of her college career and went over 500 points as well.
• Jessica Thomas eclipsed 100 rebounds as a Hurricane.