Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
NCAA
Miami’s women’s basketball team to face Quinnipiac in Connecticut.
CORAL GABLES — When the pairing popped up on the screen, Emese Hof felt her jaw drop momentarily.
While the Hurricanes entered Selection Monday feeling safe in the knowledge that they’d again earned a berth in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, it was their firstround matchup that left them all a little bit surprised.
Miami, which is making its fourth straight tournament appearance, earned a No. 8 seed in the tournament and will open play Saturday in Storrs, Connecticut against ninth-seeded Quinnipiac, the same team that stunned the Hurricanes in last year’s tournament, ending Miami’s season on its home floor.
But while the initial draw may have drawn a few raised eyebrows and in Hof’s case, a dropped jaw, it didn’t take long for the Hurricanes to regain their composure.
Regardless of the opponent or where the game is being played, Miami is again in the NCAA Tournament and they made it clear: that alone was worth celebrating and embracing.
“Obviously, that’s what they want me to comment on and I
will not,” Hurricanes coach Katie Meier responded when asked about the rematch. “It’s a new year, it’s a new team, it’s a new experience for my players to be in the NCAA Tournament and I’m not going to minimize that by just talking about a grudge match. It’s a huge platform. It’s a national stage. It’s women’s basketball’s biggest show and we need to show out. We need to play great.”
Added senior Erykah Davenport, “We’re just embracing the moment. We’re looking forward to playing in the Big Dance and not taking it for granted, not one game, not one quarter, not one second. First and foremost, we’re embracing the opportunity and just being locked in because the next game isn’t promised. We’re going for it and we’re excited.”
While the draw itself may have been surprising, the berth itself was historic for the Miami women, who on Monday became the first team in school history to make four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Paired with the men’s team earning a berth Sunday that will take them to Dallas to face Loyola-Chicago, it marked the first time both the Hurricanes men and women have made the NCAA Tournament three years in a row.
Considering the Miami women opened the year unsure what to expect after losing a trio of 1,000-point scorers that helped the Hurricanes put together one of the better seasons in program history in 2017, that the Hurricanes were able to extend their postseason streak was especially meaningful, especially to seniors Davenport and Keyanna Harris.
The duo has never missed the NCAA Tournament while playing at Miami, an accomplishment no Hurricanes men’s or women’s basketball players before them have been able to claim, according to the school.
“I think we’re the only class that went four in a row, so that’s just a blessing,” Harris said. “It’s just amazing. I’m excited. Nervous, but excited. Anxious, ready to play. Welcome to the NCAA March Madness. You never know. You just have to go out there and give it 100 percent.”
Said Davenport, “It’s amazing how times have changed. Four years ago, we were sitting in the film room, on the bubble. We didn’t even know if we were going to get in and now, my senior year, we’re having a celebration. I just can’t be more excited about that opportunity.”
As to what lies ahead, the Hurricanes may not know too much specifically yet about this current Quinnipiac team, but they do know the Bobcats system, they know Quinnipiac made a run to the Sweet 16 last year and they know the Bobcats have won back-to-back MAAC Tournament titles.
Last season in Coral Gables, the Bobcats — who enter this matchup riding a 22-game win streak and with a 27-5 record — stunned Miami, connecting on a barrage of 3-pointers in an 85-78 upset of the then fourth-seeded Hurricanes.
The loss left two thenseniors — Adrienne Motley and Jessica Thomas — sobbing on their home floor at the Watsco Center. Several of their teammates were similarly upset in the locker room.
And while no, the Hurricanes didn’t seem inclined to play the revenge card publicly, there is no denying they want a different outcome against the Bobcats — who will be playing 54 miles from their campus — this time.
“That game is waiting for us to go get it,” Hof said. “We’ve been waiting the whole year. Of course it always carries over. Getting knocked out of any tournament … you always remember that. It’s in the back of your head. It’s extra fuel, but we have to approach this as just any other game.”