Hurricanes pull off big stunner

CORAL GABLES — The last time Notre Dame came to Miami as the fourth-ranked team in the nation, the Hurricanes notched one of their biggest wins in program history.

On Thursday night, Miami women’s basketball team got another one.

The 25th-ranked Hurricanes held off a late push from the fourth-ranked Irish and picked up a 72-65 win on Thursday night that not only gave Miami its first win over a defending national champion, but should help the Hurricanes rise in the rankings and boost their NCAA tournament resume as they look to again host postseason games.

But as the final seconds of their third win over an AP Top 25 team this season ticked down, those rankings and the postseason possibilities were hardly at the forefront of coach Katie Meier’s mind.

Instead, she was just happy the players she had recruited after that 2015 win over Notre Dame had a moment of their own to celebrate.

“I think I said in the locker room, but basically, when we were recruiting you guys, we had come off the season where we had beaten Notre Dame,” Meier said, pointing to Hurricanes’ Emese Hof and Beatrice Mompremier. “When we beat them four or five years ago, whatever it was, we went out and found players that we thought we’re better. You’re great. We had turned the table and said, ‘We’re one of the top teams in the nation as well’ and you guys came here for games like this. Believe in yourselves. It means a lot that we can prove that.

“But what this game means to me is that we executed. We played great basketball.”

Both Hof and Mompremier were significant parts of Miami’s remarkable effort.

Each notched a doubledouble, with Hof finishing with a game-high 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks to lead four Hurricanes in double figures. Mompremier, meanwhile, added 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Hurricanes, who have now won 20 games for the ninth time in 10 years, controlled the tempo throughout the night and held the Irish to just 37.3 percent shooting from the field.

That was Notre Dame’s lowest shooting performance since the Irish (21-3, 8-2 ACC) shot 36 percent against Pittsburgh in 2016.

Miami, meanwhile, shot 39 percent from the field, edged Notre Dame 30-28 in the paint and outscored the Irish 18-13 in the fourth quarter.

One area where Miami (20-5, 8-2) did struggle a bit early Thursday was at the free throw line, where the Hurricanes were at one point 9 of 17 during the third quarter.

But, the Hurricanes connected on 10-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter, with both Gray and Laura Cornelius converting from the line in the game’s final minute after Arike Ogunbowale — the star of last year’s national title game — hit a 3-pointer that pulled the Irish within 65-63 with 1:16 left.

“How many times can you get opportunities like this and just play with your teammates and just … it was fun,” Hof said. “We were up a lot of the time, so we kind of felt like, ‘Okay, we’ve got this. We’ve got this.’ They had little runs every time, but I think, really believed in each other and that made it even more fun. You know your teammates have your back.”