12th-ranked Seminoles too strong again for ’Canes
CORAL GABLES — In their previous meeting last month in Tallahassee, the Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team had no answer for Florida State’s strength, size, athleticism and sheer dominance.
Four weeks later, not much has changed.
While there were occasional moments the Hurricanes were able to keep pace with the 12th-ranked Seminoles and the margin of victory wasn’t quite as large as the 39-point difference in January, Florida State dominated Miami again, this time picking up a 91-71 win over the Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon at the Watsco Center.
The loss snapped Miami’s three-game win streak, a streak that included a 52-48 win over No. 23 North Carolina State on Thursday. The Hurricanes entered Sunday’s game looking for their second consecutive upset over a top-25 team, but against Florida State, it wasn’t to be.
The Seminoles (20-4, 8-3 ACC) led for all but 34 seconds of Sunday’s game, opening the second quarter on a 16-2 run during which Miami went more than four minutes without scoring.
That allowed Florida State to build a 44-20 lead and while Miami would cut the deficit to 12 midway through the third quarter, Florida State — an Elite 8 team a season ago — responded with a quick 8-0 run to again build a 20-point lead.
During that stretch, the Hurricanes turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, with Florida State capitalizing to score off both miscues. In all, Miami turned the ball over 20 times, a number not far from the Hurricanes’ season high of 25 turnovers in a win over Sacramento State in December.
But Florida State — which has now won six consecutive road games — made Miami pay for those mistakes in a way the Hornets didn’t, with the Seminoles scoring 33 points off those Miami turnovers on Sunday.
“A lot of it was just individuals saying, ‘I know on this play, I need to get open in this space’ and Florida State just dominated us and didn’t let us get open in that particular space and we were just okay with it,” Hurricanes coach Katie Meier said.
And the frustration wasn’t limited to turnovers for Miami (17-8, 7-5).
As the Seminoles’ lead kept growing and Miami struggled from the field, shooting under 39 percent in both the first and fourth quarters, Hurricanes players could be seen lamenting their misses and pleading with officials for calls they believed had been missed.
Florida State, meanwhile, was already down on its end of the floor while those scenes played out on the Miami end.
“The game was lost by us in defensive transition,” Meier said. “We looked very young and immature when we would miss a shot and you don’t have time for any type of an emotional reaction to a missed shot. You don’t have time to look at the referee, you don’t have time to drop your shoulders and you don’t have time to jaw. We did all of that. If you’ve missed a layup, that’s already a little bit pitiful. You don’t get to act double pitiful and whine about it because you’ve got some unbelievable talent on the other team that’s just running it down our throat. …
“Florida State chose effort every time and Miami did not choose effort every time. When we chose effort, it was a heck of a game to watch. When we chose a little bit of ‘poor me,’ we were getting beat. … They’re a heck of a squad. They’re very difficult to prepare for and when they play us, they play with a real strong will. They don’t ever quit and they broke us. We’ll learn from it.”
Florida State’s Imani Wright had 21 points to lead four Seminoles in double figures, with Shakayla Thomas adding 19 and Nausia Woolfolk adding 18.
Miami’s Erykah Davenport had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hurricanes, notching her ninth double-double of the season. Keyanna Harris added 13 points for Miami, which now has four games left in the regular season.