MILESTONE VICTORY: Meier Wins 200th at Miami

No. 21/20 Miami7661North Carolina

TEAM STATS
FGs	30-72	23-61
3FGs	9-28	3-17
Free Throws	7-8	12-18
Rebounds	43	37
Blocks	1	3
Steals	7	4
Assists	21	15
Turnovers	11	15

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
	POINTS			REBOUNDS
	Motley	20		Cornelius	8
	Watts	19		Summers	11
	ASSISTS			BLOCKS
	Cornelius	7		Hof	1
	Watts	4		Bryant	2
	3FG			STEALS
	Cornelius	3-8		Motley	2
	Watts	2-8		Bryant	2

INFOGRAPHIC
Click here to enlarge

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – University of Miami head women’s basketball coach Katie Meier earned the 200th win of her Hurricane career Sunday afternoon, as No. 21/20 Miami (17-2, 5-1 ACC) picked up a 76-61 road win at North Carolina.

Junior guard Adrienne Motley scored a game-high 20 points, while freshman guard Laura Cornelius posted 13 points, a team- and career-high eight rebounds and a game- and a career-high seven assists at Carmichael Arena.

“I love Miami and I love the support that I get from the administration,” Meier said. “It’s something where I feel like I’m supposed to win 200 if I’ve been here 11 years. So, I’m glad I could do that for the University.”

Both teams shot over 46 percent from the field in a back-and-forth first period. Miami scored eight of the final 12 points of the frame, with six coming from Motley, and the Hurricanes took a 21-18 lead through 10 minutes of action.

With the score even at 26 with 6:16 left before the intermission, Miami mounted a 15-6 run to grab its largest lead of the first half, nine points. The stretch included 3-pointers by Motley, Cornelius and junior guard Jessica Thomas. It was Thomas’ shot from beyond the arc that made it 41-32 with 1:19 left in the half and drew a North Carolina (12-8, 2-3 ACC) timeout.

After the Tar Heels scored the final three points of the frame, Miami took a 41-35 lead into the locker room. The Hurricanes shot 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, while North Carolina was 2-of-10 (20.0 percent) from long range. Motley led all scorers with a dozen points at the intermission.

North Carolina opened the second half on a 6-0 run to even the score at 41, but Thomas immediately answered with her third 3-pointer of the afternoon. That shot jumpstarted an 11-2 run to put Miami ahead nine, 52-43, with 4:02 left on the third period clock. The Hurricanes’ margin would remain at nine, 59-50, entering the fourth quarter.

Following a layup by North Carolina to open the final period, Miami scored seven-consecutive points to grab a 14-point advantage, 66-52, with 5:58 to play. Freshman forward/center Emese Hof scored the first basket of the run, then assisted on the next two, a 3-pointer by Cornelius and a jump shot by redshirt junior forward Keyona Hayes.

The Hurricanes continued to extend their lead from there, turning the spurt into a 15-3 run to go ahead 74-55 with 2:48 to play. The 19-point lead was Miami’s largest of the game, en route to the 15-point victory.

“I just thought we executed the plays and the players made the extra passes. Carolina was a little bit worn down and the pass is obviously faster than the dribble and we went to that,” Meier said of the fourth period surge. “Our time per touch is a big thing in our program—no one should eat the ball—and we shrunk our time per touch, trusted each other a little bit more and it opened up everything for us.”

The margin of defeat was North Carolina’s largest in a home loss since the sixth-ranked Tar Heels fell to No. 16/14 Oregon State by 15 points, 70-55, on Dec. 16, 2014.

In addition to Motley and Cornelius, both Thomas and Hof finished with double figures. Thomas scored 13 points to go along with four assists, while Hof added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor. The Hurricane bench outscored that of North Carolina, 24-0.

“I think that we realized that North Carolina had some really tough adversity. I have so much respect for them, but you’re not going to feel sorry for them,” Meier said. “You’ve got to take advantage of an opportunity that you have and the opportunity was our depth. That is what won the basketball game for us. Our depth 100 percent won the basketball game for us.”

Freshman guard Stephanie Watts led the Tar Heels with 19 points in the defeat. Redshirt junior forward Hillary Summers (17 points and 11 rebounds) and senior guard N’Dea Bryant (12 points and 10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles for North Carolina.

Miami finished the game with 21 assists and 11 turnovers, and also held an 11-2 edge in second chance points.

After a midweek bye, the Hurricanes will be back on the court Sunday at 1 p.m. when they host No. 16/14 Florida State at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla.

To learn more about University of Miami women’s basketball, follow @CanesWBB.

MIAMI HURRICANES POSTGAME NOTES

·         For the eighth game in a row, Miami’s starting lineup was Hayes, Hof, Motley, Thomas and Michelle Woods.

·         The all-time series between the Hurricanes and Tar Heels moved to 13-7 in favor of North Carolina. Miami has a 5-4 edge in the last nine meetings.

·         Meier is now 276-181 in her 15 seasons as a head coach, including 200-136 in her 11 years at Miami. She is the second coach in program history to reach 200 wins, joining Ferne Labati.

·         The Hurricanes have scored at least 70 points 16 times in 19 games. They did so on 12 occasions in all of 2014-15.

·         Miami has trailed for a total of two minutes and 30 seconds in its last four games.

·         This is the second-straight year the Hurricanes have started 5-1 in ACC play.

·         Motley passed Stefanie Yderstrom for No. 15 on the program’s all-time scoring list. She currently has 1,208 points.

·         Motley has recorded over a dozen points in 15 of 19 games this season, with 17-plus in 13 of them. She has tallied 20-plus points 18 times in her career, including six times this season.

·         In her three career games North Carolina, Motley is averaging 20.0 points, including 23.5 in her two road games in Chapel Hill.

·         Additionally, Motley’s seven free throws made surpassed her season best (previous high five,
recorded multiple times, most recently vs. Wake Forest, 1/14/16). Her eight attempts also set a season high (previous high seven, vs. Wake Forest, 1/14/16).

·         Keyanna Harris made her first 3-pointer of the season and the second of her career, while Hayes made her second 3-pointer of the season and fifth of her career.

·         Harris’ five points matched her career best in ACC action (previously recorded multiple times, most recently at at Pittsburgh, 1/7/16).

·         Thomas recorded double figures for the 14th time in 19 games this season.

·         Erykah Davenport eclipsed 100 field goals made as a collegian.

·         Cornelius, who moved past 100 field goals attempted in her career, had the fifth double-digit scoring game of her career. Three of them have come in ACC play.

·         Cornelius’ eight rebounds doubled her prior career best of four (recorded multiple times, most recently at Virginia, 1/3/16). Her seven assists surpassed her previous career high of five(recorded multiple times, most recently vs. Wake Forest, 1/14/16).

·         In addition, Cornelius’ 34 minutes played set a new career best (previous high 28, at Virginia, 1/3/16).

·         Hof’s double-digit outing was the seventh of her career and her first in ACC action.

·         Khaila Prather played a season-high 21 minutes (previous high 20, vs. Bethune-Cookman, 11/15/15).