Keep The Faith
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Faith is confidence with some patience, according to head women’s basketball coach Katie Meier. And faith is what the Miami Hurricanes had on Tuesday when they took the No. 1 Louisville Cardinals down to the wire in a 79-76 nail biter.
“It was a heck of an environment and we played tough,” Meier said. “We were very focused for 40 minutes and we hit tough shots. We’ve had spurts of greatness, but [Tuesday’s] game was the first time we were dialed in for an entire game this season.”
The Canes put on their best shooting night of the season, knocking down 47.5 percent of their shots to keep Louisville on its toes. Despite being down 16 with 4:03 left in the third quarter, Miami kept the faith and chipped away at the Cardinals’ lead.
Earlier in the season, when our confidence would go, we didn’t have any faith or patience and would panic and lose our composure,” Meier said. “Making these comebacks starts with faith. You dig through and you stay with it and you figure out a way. I think that we’re a little bit more faithful now.”
Junior forward Naomi Mbandu had the game of her career on Tuesday, recording new career highs in both scoring (17) and rebounding (11) for her first double-double as a Cane. The Tarbes, France, native was joined in double-figures by seniors Kelsey Marshall (19) and Endia Banks (13).
“Endia played huge minutes for us and was awesome,” Meier said. “And then Naomi is a great mismatch for us and really opened up some of our drives for Endia, Taylor [Mason] and Kelsey.”
Despite coming off a loss, the Canes must keep the faith as they have a quick turnaround to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Thursday.
“We have a heck of a job ahead of us as Georgia Tech is a very special team,” Meier said. “We only have one day in between games, so we are going to have to play with toughness and resilience.”
The Canes have been strong in games following a loss, posting a 4-1 record. The only back-to-back losses Miami has faced this season came with an 11-day break for the holidays in between them.
Miami and Georgia Tech are neck and neck in the all-time series between the programs, with the Canes holding the slight 17-15 edge. When playing inside the friendly confines of the Watsco Center, the Canes boast a 10-5 record against the Yellow Jackets.
Thursday’s game is slated to tipoff at 6 p.m. and will air on ACC Network with Pam Ward and LaChina Robinson on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on WVUM 90.5.
