Miami coach Katie Meier had an illustrious playing career at Duke. Meier is the Blue Devils’ seventh leading scorer and was inducted into the Duke Hall of Honor in 2002.
However, on Thursday evening, Meier and her squad accomplished something never done before by the Hurricanes against the Blue Devils.
Redshirt junior Beatrice Mompremier led Miami past Duke 58-50 for the first win in program history against the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After missing Miami’s previous game because of a family matter, Mompremier notched her conference leading 13th double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.
“What a performance by a young lady who is really going through it right now,” Meier said. “This game was about how do we help her heal. It touches your heart.”
Duke (8-8, 0-4 ACC) led 41-38 heading into the fourth quarter, but Miami (15-4, 4-1 ACC) didn’t go away. Mompremier and Emese Hof sparked a lopsided 20-9 fourth quarter advantage, including a 13-3 run to end the contest.
Neither team led by more than one possession throughout the second half until the closing minutes.
Hof reached the 1,000-point plateau, tallying 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. The 6-foot-3 forward became the 27th player in program history to reach quadruple digits.
“I thought Emese was fantastic, just taking the game over,” Meier said.
With Miami leading 52-48 with 38 seconds remaining, Hof put the game out of reach. The senior knocked down a one-handed, turnaround jumper as the shot clock expired to extend the Hurricanes’ lead to six.
“It’s actually kind of funny,” Hof said. “We had one second on the clock and we were talking about whether to throw the ball away…So, I just shot it toward the basket. It went in. I didn’t really think it was in time, but I’m glad it was.”
UM guard Mykea Gray chipped in 12 points in the victory.
Freshman guard Miela Goodchild led Duke with 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Forward Leaonna Odom added 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Blue Devils’ leading scorer, redshirt junior Haley Gorecki, missed 10 of her 12 shots, but made her presence felt by dishing out five assists and securing nine rebounds.
Miami stifled Duke on the offensive end, holding the Blue Devils to just 34 percent from the floor.
However, the Blue Devils’ matchup zone defense created problems for Hurricanes’ of their own, causing 23 turnovers.
“We turned it over like it was our job in the first half,” Meier said. “Duke had a really good game plan. It took us a long time to figure out who we were and how to get the ball to the right people, but I thought our fourth quarter execution was brilliant.”
Next, Miami returns to the Watsco Center to face Duke’s biggest rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.