Miami women’s basketball completed a comeback and staved off a comeback from the Clemson Tigers to capture a thrilling overtime victory, 69-66, at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C.
The Hurricanes were down by three at halftime but were able to go on a 15-4 scoring run in the first six minutes of the third quarter.
“The real key moment in the game was around the media timeout in the second quarter, we were down seven on the road,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “I told the team, we’re down on the road and that is okay. We’re going to close out the half really well and we would be in great shape coming out of halftime and we did exactly that.”
The lead the ‘Canes built up was quickly diminished by a furious comeback attempt by the Tigers. Clemson took the lead with a bucket by Eno Inyang with just over two minutes to play.
With barely over a minute left, Hurricanes guard and leading scorer Jasyme Roberts was able to tie the game at 62. The sophomore finished with a team-high 21 points.
A chaotic series with multiple misses from Clemson led to overtime, and veteran forward Lola Pendande was the overtime hero for the ‘Canes as she hit the go-ahead layup and the game-icing free throw. She ended the game with 15 points.
“In February, any win is huge, but a road win in February against a very high-quality opponent is massive,” Meier said. “Clemson played a heck of a fourth quarter and overtime was anyone’s game.”
Fresno State transfer Haley Cavinder pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Forward Destiny Harden also scored 19 points. The ‘Canes shot 42% from the field and 14.3% from behind the arc.
With this win, the Miami Hurricanes move to 7-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and 14-8 overall. They sit just two games back of Duke for first in the ACC.
Look for the Hurricanes to try to extend their winning streak on Sunday at noon against Georgia Tech at the Watsco Center.