@MiamiWBB Drops Regular Season Finale

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami fell to No. 9/8 Florida State in its last game of the regular season Sunday at the BankUnited Center.

The Seminoles came out hot from the start and picked up a 69-55 victory despite a game-high 20 points by Adrienne Motley, including 16 in the second half as part of a rally by the Hurricanes.

“We got to rest up tomorrow because we played our guts out today,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “That deficit at halftime was something that is daunting and to come back and to cut it and get ourselves in a position to make that a competitive game was a heck of a lot of effort. So, we’ll rest up on Monday and then we’ll get ready for Virginia [in the ACC Tournament].”

Senior forward Necole Sterling began the game with a three-pointer, but then Florida State (27-3, 14-2 ACC) went on a 20-7 run to go up by double digits with 8:50 left in the half.

The Seminoles’ hot shooting throughout the session allowed them to increase their lead to 38-22 at the intermission. Florida State went 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Florida State started the second frame strong and extended its lead to 22 with 14:56 to go, taking a 49-27 edge, but Miami (18-10, 8-8 ACC) began to battle back. An 8-0 run by the Hurricanes made it 49-35 with 11:17 to play and they continued to chip away from there.

Miami kept its foot on the gas and turned its burst into an 18-5 run, capped by a three-pointer by Sterling. The charge sliced the FSU lead down to nine, 54-45, with 7:20 to go.

“I thought it was our length and our energy and we just took some chances and I believe the lineup was several freshmen too,” Meier said of what she saw during the run. “Nigia Greene I know was the spark and Khaila Prather was doing some amazing things. You have to play a very special basketball to beat a team this good and in that moment we were playing very special.”

The Hurricanes outscored Florida State in the second half, but were unable to get closer than nine and fell by a final score of 69-55.

Redshirt senior guard Maegan Conwright paced the Seminoles with 17 points, while sophomore guard Leticia Romero had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the game.

Redshirt junior guard Michelle Woods scored 12 points for Miami and shot 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) at the free throw line. She also matched her career high and tied for the game lead with six assists. Redshirt senior forward Jassany Williams led the Hurricanes with six rebounds and five blocks.

The Davie, Fla. native surpassed 200 blocks in her career and now has 123 in her two years as a Hurricane, fourth most in program history. Her 66 blocks this season rank second on the single season list.

Williams, Sterling and guard Suriya McGuire were honored before the game as a as a part of Miami’s senior day festivities.

“It’s been amazing because their journeys here are just all so different. I’ve never had a senior class with such a diverse journey,” Meier said of the trio. “We get Ray out of Minnesota and then Jazz we lose [as a high school recruit] and we get her back and then Necole we get her via/via two schools. So the diversity of them and what they bring to the table [is amazing]. They’re three very, very special young ladies [with] bright futures ahead of them.”

Miami will be the eighth seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament and will have a first round bye before facing ninth-seeded Virginia Thursday, March 5 at 2:00 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C. The game will be televised by RSN affiliates.

MIAMI HURRICANES POSTGAME NOTES

• The three Miami seniors, Suriya McGuire, Necole Sterling and Jassany Williams, started for the Hurricanes along with Adrienne Motley and Michelle Woods. It was the first time in 2014-15 that Miami started that quintet.
• The all-time series between the Hurricanes and Seminoles now favors Florida State, 37-12.
• Katie Meier moves to 257-177 in her 14 years as a head coach.
• Meier is now 181-132 in her 10 seasons at the helm at Miami.
• The Hurricanes recorded 11 steals, the 13th time this season they have reached double dfigures, and Miami forced 18 Florida State turnovers.
• Adrienne Motley has now scored in double figures 26 times in Miami’s 29 games this season and has recorded 14-plus points on 23 occasions.
• With 16 points in the second half, Motley has scored 14-plus in a single half each of the last three games. Additionally, she surpassed 50 made three-pointers as a collegian in the game.
• The 16 second half points are the third most Motley has scored in a half all season (18 in the second half vs. No. 4 Notre Dame on 1/8/15 and 17 in the first half at NC State on 2/19/15). She has scored 15 points after the break four times in 2014-15.
• Jassany Williams recorded four-plus blocks in a game for the sixth time this season, with all of them in ACC play.
• Williams is the first Hurricane with five blocks in a game since she recorded eight herself at Virginia Tech (1/11/15).
• Michelle Woods‘ six assists equaled her career best (previous vs. Virginia Tech, 2/3/13).
• Woods also played a career-high 36 minutes in the game (previous 34, done multiple times, most recently vs. North Carolina, 2/22/15).
• Necole Sterling went over 50 made three-pointer in her two years as a Hurricane.
• Suriya McGuire surpassed 2,500 minutes played as a collegian.
• Freshman forward Erykah Davenport reached 100 rebounds in her career.