Five things to know about Miami, the OSU women’s NCAA Tournament foe
STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State women's basketball team will make its return to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed, facing off against ninth-seeded Miami in the first round at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
The game is set for Saturday with the tip time to be determined.
Here are five things to know about the Miami Hurricanes.
Chasing 20th win
Miami (19-12) is sitting a win shy of 20 entering the NCAA Tournament after going 11-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Hurricanes come in having won three of their last seven games, going 1-1 in the ACC Tournament with a win over Boston College and a loss to Virginia Tech.
This will be Miami's 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 10th under coach Katie Meier, who is in her 18th season leading the program.
Meier has 419 career victories and a 343-222 record at Miami.
Influential twins
Beyond basketball, the biggest news Miami has made this year has been in the name, image and likeness game.
Twin sisters Haley and Hanna Cavinder are social media influencers.
A report by Forbes last July says the 21-year-old twins have approximately $1.7 million in NIL deals thanks to their social media reach that includes more than 4 million followers on TikTok plus another million-plus on other platforms.
Transfers from Fresno State, one of the reasons they came to Miami was to go to an NCAA Tournament, and here they are.
Counting on offense
The Hurricanes rely heavily on their offense to win games. Over their past five victories, they've averaged 75.6 points per game.
Over their past five losses, they've averaged 51.8.
Similar to OSU, Miami relies on a variety of players for offense, with five players averaging between 6.9 and 12.6 points per game.
Haley Cavinder, a 5-foot-6 guard, leads the way at 12.6 with 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Destiny Harden averages 12.0 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds.
Turned over
One key area where Miami could attack the Cowgirls is with its ability to force turnovers.
While OSU has been strong in taking care of the ball this season, averaging 13.3 turnovers per game, that has been a prickly situation lately.
Over the last five games, in which OSU has gone 1-4, it has turned the ball over 16.6 times per game.
As a team, Miami is forcing opponents into 17.0 turnovers per game while giving up 63.8 points per game, well short of OSU's season average of 75.8.
The Cowgirls are shooting 45.3% from the floor and 36.6% from 3-point range, while Miami is allowing teams to shoot 41.6% and 31.7%, respectively.
A common opponent
OSU and Miami had only one crossover in their schedules, but it won't tell you much more than you already know about this matchup — it's a tight one.
Both teams played Florida State this season. Miami split, losing 92-85 at Florida State, then winning 86-82 at home.
OSU defeated Florida State 79-77 in the sixth game of the year, over Thanksgiving weekend, at the Women's Cancun Challenge.
It was the first big win of the season for OSU, with Florida State later climbing into the top 25.