“I’m so excited going into the ACC tournament, ” Miami head coach Katie Meier said.
She has plenty to be excited about, as Miami has gone 11-4 over its past 15 games.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament has started this week in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the ‘Canes roll into the tournament as the sixth seed and will play Boston College.
If Miami wins against the Eagles, it will have a showdown with third-seeded Virginia Tech. UM won against the Hokies back in early January, which was part of a crucial five-game winning streak for the ‘Canes.
“If you ever want to know how hard it was this year in the ACC this year, look at [Virginia] and understand that they only had 4 wins. That is ridiculous, that’s what we’ve been dealing with all year,” Meier said. “The fact that we’ve got 11 wins in this conference, I’ve been coaching for 30 years and I’ve never been a part of a conference that never one night you didn’t even have a 10-point lead in every game, like the whole season and it was incredible”
The ACC has four teams ranked in the AP Top 25. Those teams include Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Duke and North Carolina.
Miami is sixth in total offense in the ACC and 10th in total defense. Miami averages 71.3 points per game and gives up 63.5 points per game. They boast an 11-7 record in the conference and an 18-11 record overall. They also have the fifth-best free throw percentage in the ACC.
Resilience is a word that comes up often, especially with Miami’s seniors. Meier spoke highly of her seniors and said resiliency was something that kept reoccurring. It echoes in the play of the seniors, especially Destiny Harden and Haley Cavinder.
Harden is top-20 in the ACC in points, rebounds, and steals per game with 12.3, 5.9, and 1.8, respectively. Cavinder sits at 17th in the ACC in points with 12.8, as well as 12th in minutes with 30.7 per game.
“We knew we had to move the ball, coming off the Louisville game, we knew we had to become a team, play as a team, share the ball,” senior forward Destiny Harden said after Miami’s Senior Day win against Virginia. “That means a lot of wide-open shots and get that chemistry back heading into the ACC tournament.”
Miami looks to catch fire and make a run in the ACC Tournament, starting on Thursday at 8 p.m.