Canes Defend Watsco in 74-41 Win over Bethune-Cookman

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team (2-0, 0-0 ACC) defeated Bethune-Cookman (0-2, 0-0 SWAC) 74-41 on Thursday morning in Watsco Center before a spirited crowd of 4,028 on Education Day Presented By Chick-fil-A.

Miami had three players in double figures for scoring as Ra Shaya Kyle led all scorers with 19 points. As a team, the Hurricanes shot 43.5 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers on the Wildcats.

Kyle also led on the boards for the Canes, securing 11 rebounds to complement her 19 points and marking her first double-double of the 2025-26 season. Overall Miami out-rebounded Bethune-Cookman 46-39, with 10 players bringing in two or more rebounds.

Miami initiated play with a strong presence on both ends of the floor, holding Bethune-Cookman to only two points in the first six minutes of play. Offensively, the Canes shot 50 percent from the field with Kyle and Blasigh going a perfect 2-2. Kyle posted six points inside the paint and Vittoria Blasigh went 1-1 from behind the arc, followed by a driving layup. The Canes held a 10-point lead (19-10) at the conclusion of the first quarter.

Bethune-Cookman began to find a rhythm at the start of the second quarter, increasing pressure on the defensive end. As a result, Miami was held to only four points in the first five minutes and shot a game low 20 percent from the field. After finding an adjustment, the Canes were led by Kyle, Ahnay Adams, and Natalie Wetzel—each posting four points apiece. Despite a low scoring 10 minutes for Miami, the Canes maintained a nine-point lead heading into half at 33-24.

Miami went five of six from the field (83.3%) to post 11 points in less than four minutes. The hot offensive start for the Canes shifted the momentum back into their control for the entire third quarter. Miami outrebounded the Wildcats 14-5, shot a game high 53.3 percent from the field, distributed seven assists, and hit two blocks. The Canes held a 17-point advantage (52-35) heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

The Canes kept things rolling in the fourth, scoring 22 points and holding Bethune-Cookman to a field goal percentage of 12.5 percent. The Canes brought in 14 rebounds in the final quarter and solidified a 74-41 win to bring the Canes win streak to two.

Notable Stats:

• Miami has started the past 10 consecutive seasons at 2-0
• The Canes posted 14+ points in all four quarters
• Miami’s 74 points was tallied across 10 different players
• Three Canes hit double figures in scoring
  • Kyle (19)
  • Wetzel (11)
  • Adams (10)
• Miami outscored Bethune-Cookman 36-16 in the paint
• Miami outrebounded Bethune-Cookman, 46-39
• The Canes forced 16 turnovers on the Wildcats to convert for 18 points
• Wetzel was responsible for 11 of Miami’s 26 bench points
• Gal Raviv led the Canes in assists, distributing seven

Miami will return to Watsco Center on Thursday, November 13, hosting Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. The third matchup of the 2025-26 season will be aired on ACCNX.

Postgame Quotes
Tricia Cullop Opening statement …
“I think I’d like to start out just by saying this, it was nice to have close to five people in double figure scoring. Really pleased to see our rebounding effort. 20 offensive rebounds. That kind of effort, you know, it’s going to help you win a lot of basketball games. We won the battle on the boards. We had 18 assists and only 10 turnovers. For a new team to only have 10 turnovers in a game, and, you know, they off and on, pressed us. I was really pleased with that. Things we got to work on: free throw percentage. Not happy with that at all. I think we can do that better. Also we took a lot of threes and we only shot 25 percent. We’re a better three point shooting team than that, but we struggled at it today. But at least we went after the boards and got them, and I thought, the second half, much better energy. I do think there might have been a little bit of nerves, might have been a little bit of everything else. But I thought the second half, you know, you look at it, 30 points in that quarter. I thought they came out of that, out of halftime, ready to play.”

Ra Shaya Kyle, Center, Grad Student
On improvement from previous games to this game…
“This wasn’t one of our better games, but I thought we improved on like pushing the ball in transition. We had a lot of people in double-figures and crashing the boards. I think we did a really good job of sharing the ball. And tonight, I feel like we also knocked down some shots too… I’m not necessarily disappointed. I mean, we all obviously still got a lot of things that we need to work on, but just, I would say, hitting the shots that I know we can hit, and I see us hit every day in practice.”