CORAL GABLES, Fla. – For the fourth time in the last five years, the University of Miami women’s basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament.
The Hurricanes were announced Monday night as the No. 11 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional and will face the sixth-seeded Washington Huskies Friday, March 20 at 12:00 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa.
“That was really a special moment for our team. We were obviously riding on that bubble pretty hard the last nine, 10 days and grinded out a lot of conference [tournament] wins that had to go our way,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “But in the end we deserve to be in and we can beat anyone in the field and we’ve proven that this year. I think we’re an exciting team, I think we’re a dangerous team, but I’m so proud of my girls. We just shared such a great moment. That was a lot of fun.”
Meier has now guided the Hurricanes to six consecutive postseason appearances after the program had made six in the prior 16 seasons combined. The four NCAA Tournament bids in the past five years top Miami’s total from the previous 17 years.
Miami is one eight teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the field, the most of any conference in the country and tying the ACC’s record, set last season.
This will be the second consecutive NCAA Tournament trip in which Miami (19-12, 8-8 ACC) opens play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The Hurricanes also played there as eight seed in 2013.
“Well, I love their arena. They have a great fan base, really fair place to play,” Meier said of returning to Iowa City. “We got a tough matchup in the first round against a great team in Washington, but it will be special. It’s going to be a high-level basketball game.”
If the Hurricanes defeat the Huskies, they will face the winner of the game between third-seeded Iowa (24-7, 14-4 Big Ten) and No. 14 seed American (24-8, 17-2 Patriot).
Miami and Washington’s game Friday at noon will be televised on ESPN2. If the Hurricanes advance to the second round, their matchup against the Hawkeyes or Eagles would be Sunday, with the time and broadcast information to be determined.
“It’s exciting just to know all the hard work has been paying off, all the big wins we got didn’t go unnoticed,” Miami sophomore guard Adrienne Motley said of the Hurricanes making the NCAA Tournament. “So, just to be selected it means a lot to the team and the coaching staff.”
You can keep track of Miami’s journey through the NCAA Tournament on Twitter by following @MiamiWBB.
