{"id":1114,"date":"2023-03-26T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T14:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2023-03-26T09:33:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T14:33:00","slug":"team-talk-miami-hurricanes-womens-basketball-ready-for-lsu-challenge-were-tough-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/team-talk-miami-hurricanes-womens-basketball-ready-for-lsu-challenge-were-tough-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Team talk: Miami Hurricanes women\u2019s basketball ready for LSU challenge \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019re tough, too\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANALYSIS: Road to Final 4 for women\u2019s hoops goes through talented LSU team that was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation this season<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The No. 9 seeded Miami Hurricanes reached the Elite Eight<\/a> for the first time in program history with Friday\u2019s win over Villanova. But don\u2019t take that accomplishment to mean this team is anywhere near satisfied.<\/p>\n

The next challenge: No. 3 seed LSU\u00a0<\/a>tonight at 7 p.m. in Greensville, S.C., with a Final Four berth on the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot a lot of work to do for sure, happy to have this opportunity, be in this situation for sure,\u201d Miami coach Katie Meier said. \u201cRunning up against an amazing team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tigers ranked No. 9 in the nation, were dominant in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The team took down 14 seed Hawaii in the opening round, 73-50, and then dispatched 6 seed and 18th ranked Michigan, 66-42.<\/p>\n

On Friday the team beat No. 8 ranked Utah, the 2 seed, in a 66-63 nailbiter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The game featured 12 lead changes and 11 ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome familiarity with LSU, some of the players,\u201d Meier said. \u201cExcellent talent, incredible coaching, tons of passion, tons of grit. If it\u2019s about toughness,\u00a0 you have two great examples of it in LSU and Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Lady Canes<\/a>\u00a0surpassed expectations to this point with some close hard-fought games. UM won the first round game against Oklahoma State by one point, then beat top seed Indiana on a last-second bucket by Destiny Harden.<\/p>\n

In the Sweet 16 game Miami opened a 21-point lead against Villanova only to see the Wildcats battle back to take the lead.<\/p>\n

But the Canes preserved and won, 70-65.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a heck of a game with a lot of storylines to it,\u201d Meier said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to move forward, do it really quickly and really well.<\/p>\n

Miami will probably go about as far as Harden and point guard Haley Cavinder can take the team.<\/p>\n

Cavinder averages 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists; Harden averages 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing together, relying on our defense and starting off games really, really strong,\u201d Cavinder said. \u201cJust keep going, keep getting stops.<\/p>\n

Jasmyne Roberts also has the ability to put up points \u2013 she averages 8.9 points per game and had a team-high 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting in the most recent win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really exciting time for both our men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHopefully we can keep going and both make it to the Final Four.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lola Pendande (8.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG) also has been a big impact this postseason with her length and ability in the post.<\/p>\n

\u201cLola is pretty cerebral, a lot goes on inside her head,\u201d Meier said. \u201c(She is) underestimated. A stop \u2013 that gives me face. There\u2019s a Lola stop that ignites our team, something she does that just anchors us. Yeah, there\u2019s going to have to be quite a few Lola stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, this is the first time Miami has made the Elite Eight in both men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really, really big deal,\u201d Meier said. \u201cThe two programs have a lot in common, we are very competitive, get that way with each other and I love it. \u2026 It\u2019s elevated both of our programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the challenge of facing LSU? Well it\u2019s a team that averages outscoring opponents 82.7-57.2 and hits on 46.5 percent of shots while giving up a 35.5 shooting percentage.<\/p>\n

The rebounding edge? 46.5-30.5 in LSU\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

So it will take a full team effort by Miami on both sides of the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing it together \u2013 we are going to keep riding out together,\u201d Harden said. \u201cWe can always say this group is coach Meier\u2019s first ride in March Madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miami will have its hands full trying to slow down 6-3 forward Angel Reese, who averages 23.5 points and 15.6 rebounds per game along with 1.6 blocks. Reese was the top-rated player in the portal after spending two years at Maryland, earning All-American honors there before transferring.<\/p>\n

Then there is shifty 5-6 senior point guard Alexis Morris, who is equally adept at scoring and dishing out assists. She averages 14.7 points and 4.0 assists.<\/p>\n

Also averaging in double digits scoring is 5-10 guard Flau\u2019jae Johnson \u2013 she averages 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds.<\/p>\n

6-4 forward LaDazhia Williams is a presence in the paint who averages 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds, and the team\u2019s other starter is 5-10 guard Jasmine Carson. She is the three-point threat, hitting on 34 percent with a team-high 57 makes on 169 attempts. Carson averages 8.9 points per game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey cross half court one time, they probably score,\u201d Meier said. \u201cTheir percentage is incredible, possession percentage. There\u2019s a lot of grit in their guards, their back side. There\u2019s a lot of work to do for us. I\u2019m really glad I have a team that doesn\u2019t mind getting in the mud a little bit, because we\u2019re going to need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canes have won their three NCAA Tournament games by a combined eight points.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019d be just fine winning this next one by a single point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been here before, been down, been up, been tied,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s been ups and downs but we always break through as long as we\u2019re together and have each other\u2019s backs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late tomorrow night, Miami will either be celebrating a Final Four berth or reflecting on a great season that has come to an end.<\/p>\n

The goal is the former.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what we need to do,\u201d Meier said. \u201cWe are pretty locked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to play intense, but without tension. That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to try to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A final thought, from Roberts: \u201cWe have a tough matchup, but we\u2019re tough, too. \u2026 This is a team that\u2019s similar to our game. It\u2019ll be a dogfight. I\u2019m pretty confident in our team. We\u2019re going to get out there and compete like we have been so far, and we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Team talk: Miami Hurricanes women\u2019s basketball ready for LSU challenge \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019re tough, too\u201d<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANALYSIS: Road to Final 4 for women\u2019s hoops goes through talented LSU team that was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}