@CanesWBB Drops ACC Road Opener at Virginia

#22/20 Miami5676Virginia

TEAM STATS
FGs	21-54	29-60
3FGs	3-14	6-9
Free Throws	11-17	12-16
Rebounds	39	31
Blocks	1	7
Steals	9	10
Assists	11	19
Turnovers	28	17

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
	POINTS			REBOUNDS
	Thomas	12		Hayes / Davenport	5
	Randolph / Moses	16		Mason	7
	ASSISTS			BLOCKS
	Thomas	3		Harris	1
	Randolph	8		El	3
	3FG			STEALS
	Thomas	2-6		Thomas	3
	El	3-3		Randolph	4

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team fell 76-56 at Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena Sunday afternoon in its first ACC road game of the season.

Junior guard Jessica Thomas led No. 22/20 Miami (13-2, 1-1 ACC) with 12 points, her 11th double-digit outing of the season.

“Well, we just got to mimic some of the qualities that Virginia played with,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said of what she can teach her team from this game. “They were tough, they were strong. When they made mistakes they responded with tougher defense and I just don’t feel like we did that.”

In a first quarter that included a combined 19 turnovers, freshman forward/center Emese Hof was steady down low for the Hurricanes, connecting on all three of her field goal attempts. Miami held Virginia (11-4, 1-0 ACC) scoreless for the final four minutes and six seconds of the period and trailed 12-11 after 10 minutes of action.

The Cavaliers opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run and jumped out to a 24-13 lead with 7:24 left before the intermission. Virginia would go on to outscore the Hurricanes 28-9 in the period to take a 40-20 lead at halftime.

Virginia senior guard Faith Randolph, a Preseason All-ACC selection, had 11 points in the first half to lead all scorers, while Hof had eight for Miami.

Despite nine points from redshirt junior forward Keyona Hayes in the third period, Virginia stretched its advantage to 63-32 through 30 minutes of play.

The Hurricanes competed until the final buzzer, finishing the game on a 13-5 run and making seven of their final 11 field goal attempts in the defeat.

“It wasn’t like one person had the turnover bug. The entire team had it,” Meier said. “So, you got to kind of look at your schemes and look at what Virginia was doing to us defensively. We tried to change our offensive schemes and we stopped turning it over, but we weren’t scoring. We rely on three guards [Thomas, Adrienne Motley and Michelle Woods] who attack very, very well and Virginia neutralized them and turned them over quite a bit.”

Hayes and sophomore forward/center Erykah Davenport both finished with nine points and scored all of their points in the second half.

Five Cavaliers scored double-digits, with Randolph and sophomore forward Lauren Moses leading the way with 16 points each.

The Hurricanes now return home to Coral Gables, Fla., to face Pittsburgh Thursday at 7 p.m. at the BankUnited Center.

For more information on the University of Miami women’s basketball program, follow @CanesWBB.

MIAMI HURRICANES POSTGAME NOTES

·         For the fourth-consecutive game, Miami’s starting lineup was Hayes, Hof, Adrienne Motley, Thomas and Michelle Woods.

·         The all-time time series between Miami and Virginia is now 9-7 in favor of the Cavaliers. Prior to today, Miami had won six of the past seven meetings, including each of the last three.

·         Meier is now 272-181 in her 15 seasons as a head coach, including 196-136 in her 11 years at Miami. She is four victories away from 200 in her career at Miami.

·         This was the Hurricanes’ first loss of the season when trailing by 11-plus points at any time in the game, as Miami had won the first four times that happened.

·         Miami is now 4-2 when trailing at halftime.

·         The Hurricanes had a 22-16 edge in bench points and led 32-30 in points in the paint. Miami also outrebounded the Cavaliers, 39-31.

·         Both teams scored 36 points in the second half.

·         This marked the first time all season Miami has not held a lead in a game.

·         Miami’s last loss by 20-plus points came on 2/8/15 when the Hurricanes fell 80-60 at No. 9/8 Florida State.

·         This was just the fourth time in 15 games this season the Hurricanes have allowed 70-plus points.

·         Miami had a player foul out for just the second time this season, as Erykah Davenport picked up her fifth foul with 2:44 remaining in the game. Previously, Hof fouled out against Illinois (12/2/15).

·         In three of her four starts this season, Hof has scored Miami’s first points.

·         Hof also surpassed 100 field goals attempted as a Hurricane.

·         Thomas scored 11-plus points for the 11th time in 15 games this season.

·         Thomas eclipsed 100 made free throws in her career and reached 100 steals as a collegian. In, her 35 minutes played equaled her most in her career in an ACC game (previous at Syracuse, 2/12/15).

·         Laura Cornelius matched a career best with four rebounds (previously recorded multiple times, most recently vs. UMass Lowell, 12/6/15). Additionally, she played a career-high 28 minutes (previous high 26, at Loyola Chicago, 11/21/15).

·         Davenport’s four free throw attempts set a new career best in ACC play (previous high two, recorded multiple times, most recently vs. Florida State, 3/1/15).

·         Khaila Prather reached 100 points in her career. In addition, her four points matched her career best in ACC action (previously recorded multiple times, most recently at Virginia Tech, 1/11/15).

·         Keyanna Harris’ two steals equaled her career best (previously recorded multiple times, most recently vs. Wisconsin, 12/4/14). It is her first multi-steal game this season and the first of her career in ACC play.

·         Harris also matched her career high in ACC play with 11 minutes played (previous high vs. Clemson, 1/15/15). Harris also logged her first-career block in ACC action.

·         Motley equaled her season highs in free throws made (five) and attempted (six), with both previous marks coming at Charlotte (11/23/15).

·         Hayes, who reached 250 field goals made as a Hurricane, set season bests in free throws made (three) and attempted (five). Her prior best mark in makes was two (recorded multiple times, most recently vs. NC State, 12/30/15), while her top mark in attempts had been four (vs. Bethune-Cookman, 11/15/15).