A dominant defensive second half helped the Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team defeat the Boston Colleges Eagles 77-60 Thursday night at the Watsco Center.
The Canes outscored the Eagles by six points in the third quarter and 15 points in the fourth quarter. Miami also held Boston Colleges to just 29 percent shooting from the field in the second half. Eight of the Eagles 14 turnovers were in the second half.
“We were waiting around for a spark on offense, so we just started focusing on defense and getting stops against a very good Boston College team,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said after the game.
It was a well-balanced attack for Miami as five different players scored in double digits. Redshirt junior Destiny Harden led the way for the Canes with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Harden’s 20-point game ties a career-high and also marks the third time this season Harden has scored 20 points.
“I’ve just been playing Miami basketball, listening to coaches,” Harden said when asked what she’s been doing to stay in a good offensive rhythm.
Senior guard Endia Banks added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Guards Taylor Mason and Karla Erjavec also added 11 points each for the Canes. Senior guard Kelsey Marshall scored eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter.
The Canes started the game going 1-5 from the field and turned the ball over three times. The slow start forced Meier to call a timeout just five minutes into the game. Miami responded after the timeout, cutting the Eagles lead to just four heading the second quarter. The second quarter was a back-and-forth battle as both teams scored 20 points in the quarter and the Eagles held on to a 37-33 lead at halftime.
Miami started the half on a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Miami used that momentum to spark a strong third quarter that saw them score 17 points on 44 percent shooting from the field. Harden was a big part of Miami’s third-quarter scoring. She had six points and grabbed five rebounds. Miami took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Miami dominated the fourth quarter, led by Marshall’s eight fourth-quarter points. The Canes outscored the Eagles 27-12 in the quarter.
“It was just a great team win,” Meier said.
The Hurricanes will now have a week off before facing the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 7 p.m on Feb. 25 at the Watsco Center.