Miami, Louisville amongst ladies’s NCAA Match Day 4 winners
Miami coach Katie Meier might be forgiven for not following her personal recommendation.
“I at all times inform my crew to behave such as you’ve been there earlier than. However we hadn’t,” Meier mentioned, nonetheless giddy from the Hurricanes’ upset of top-seeded Indiana. “We type of acted silly and actually completely happy and loved it. That was a extremely large second for us, and it was enjoyable.”
Meier and Miami have earned the correct to have fun. That is the Hurricanes’ first journey to the Candy 16 since 1992. They handed Indiana its first loss at residence this season. They accomplished a faculty sweep of the Hoosiers within the second spherical.
And so they did simply six quarters after they had been at risk of being run out of the NCAA Match.
Miami trailed Oklahoma State by 17 at halftime of its first-round recreation. When Meier went again to the locker room, she didn’t have the prospect to say something as a result of her gamers informed her they had been figuring it out.
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Determine it out, they did. The Hurricanes rallied for a one-point win over Oklahoma State, then got here out scorching towards Indiana and by no means let up. Miami by no means trailed within the recreation, and didn’t falter even when Yarden Garzon drilled a 3-pointer to tie the sport with seven seconds left.
After a timeout, Miami bought the ball to Future Harden within the paint and he or she squared up for the quick jumper. When it swished via, Meier and the Hurricanes couldn’t include themselves. As her gamers celebrated, Meier thanked her coaches.
“After which I regarded round for anybody that wished to hug me,” she mentioned.
“This place, the basketball that’s been performed on this (area) — it’s emotional,” Meier mentioned. “Basketball runs deep in my household. To beat them right here, with that nice crowd, and to imply a lot to my crew, to have the ability to do that’s unimaginable.”
Girls’s NCAA Match:Results, schedule, games, times, TV
Listed here are the opposite winners and losers from Day 4 of the women’s NCAA Tournament:
WINNERS
Louisville
Louisville made its sixth consecutive Candy 16, the longest lively streak after UConn and South Carolina. Making the streak extra spectacular is there was a time this season when it appeared unbelievable.
“I mentioned at our tip-off luncheon, ‘That is going to be a crew that is going to take a while, OK. You have to be affected person with us,’” coach Jeff Walz mentioned. “And we now have a number of of our followers on the market that weren’t. ‘Oh, it is a unhealthy yr, it is a unhealthy yr.’ Properly, if it is a unhealthy yr, I would hate to see what a extremely unhealthy yr appears to be like like. As a result of I do not suppose it is too unhealthy, as a result of it is not over but.”
A Last 4 crew final yr, the Cardinals bought off to a tough begin, dropping two of three video games on the Battle 4 Atlantis in November. After a straightforward, and anticipated, win over Longwood, Louisville misplaced consecutive video games by double digits to Ohio State — the Buckeyes had been within the prime 5 on the time — and unranked Center Tennessee State.
By Christmas, Louisville was out of the High 25, by no means to return the remainder of the season. The Cardinals completed the common season 21-10 after dropping two of their final 4 to Notre Dame.
However Louisville has gotten scorching on the proper time. It beat regular-season ACC champ Notre Dame within the semifinals of the convention event earlier than dropping to Virginia Tech, which is considered one of two No. 1 seeds remaining.
Due to its tough season, Louisville was seeded fifth, which meant it needed to play its first- and second-round video games on the street. Regardless of. The Cardinals held off Drake on Saturday, then walloped fourth-seeded Texas on its residence courtroom to advance to the Candy 16 and maintain its streak alive.
“We now have figured one thing out. I am not saying we now have all of the solutions as a result of we do not,” Walz mentioned. “However we now have found out how one can get our youngsters to play the very best when it issues.”
Black coaches
There might be 4 Black coaches within the Candy 16, a notable stat in a occupation that has lengthy struggled with range.
Daybreak Staley of South Carolina, Kenny Brooks of Virginia Tech, Niele Ivey of Notre Dame and Yolett McPhee-McCuin all have led their groups to the Candy 16. Staley and Brooks coach top-seeded groups, whereas McPhee-McCuin’s Ole Miss squad despatched Stanford residence within the second spherical for the primary time since 2007. Ivey’s crew has saved profitable regardless of dropping two of their starters.
Solely two Black coaches, Staley and Carolyn Peck, have received nationwide championships, and Staley has made it a precedence to champion different coaches of shade within the occupation. She famously despatched items of the online from South Carolina’s first title to Black ladies coaches forward of final season, and used a few of her time on the Last 4 final yr to level out how onerous it’s for Black males to get a shot.
“Possibly 10 years in the past, there was an inflow of hiring — the factor was to rent Black ladies. I feel we’re again at that place now the place Black ladies are on the highest tier of ADs wanting a Black coach to go their — a feminine Black coach. Male Black coaches, they do not have a shot. In order that’s my subsequent factor,” Staley mentioned. “However it’s extra standard proper now to rent a Black coach.”
It’s one factor for athletic administrators to rent Black coaches, nevertheless, and one other for these coaches to win on the most important stage the place everybody, in and outdoors the sport, can see it.
“I simply really feel like Black feminine coaches have been the unvoiced,” Staley mentioned final yr.
NIL
The change that many predicted would “destroy school sports activities” appears to be understanding simply positive for the Miami Hurricanes.
The U bought a number of the most intriguing transfers final offseason with the addition of the twins, who performed their first three years at Fresno State and had been drawn to Miami due to NIL cash. (Haley and Hanna reportedly earn up to seven figures in a variety of NIL offers.) Some puzzled in the event that they had been ok to play within the Energy 5.
Properly, they’re. Haley particularly was big in Monday’s upset over No. 1 Indiana, scoring 9 factors (together with two clutch free throws with 12.7 seconds left), snagging eight rebounds, blocking one shot and grabbing one steal. Her play helped ship the Hurricanes to their first Candy 16 since 1992, lengthy earlier than the twins had been born.
Transfers
Possibly the switch portal isn’t as unhealthy as coaches make it out to be.
It was day for gamers who began at one college earlier than shifting to a different, with a number of transfers arising large when their (present) crew wanted it most. A sampling:
- Taylor Mikesell, who began at Maryland, transferred to Oregon and eventually landed at Ohio State, completed with 17 factors, three assists and two steals for the Buckeyes.
- Rickea Jackson, the SEC’s main scorer at Mississippi State final yr, has been robust for Tennessee all season, and on Monday scored 12 factors, grabbed six rebounds and dished out 4 assists.
- Louisville had a number of transfers who made an affect, together with former Florida State guard Morgan Jones (10 factors, six rebounds) and senior ahead Lix Dison, who left Georgia Tech after her freshman yr and grabbed 10 rebounds within the win over Texas.
There have been excellent performances from transfers who misplaced, too. Duke guard Celeste Taylor, who got here to Durham from Texas, got here extremely near a quadruple-double with eight factors, 10 rebounds, eight assists and 10 steals.
LOSERS
12 seeds
It was enjoyable whereas it lasted.
There received’t be any double-digit seeds within the Candy 16 after Florida Gulf Coast and Toledo, each No. 12 seeds, misplaced Monday. Tenth-seeded Georgia, the one different double-digit seed to win within the first spherical, misplaced Sunday.
The bottom seed left within the event is No. 9 Miami.
TV censors
They’re going to slap a three-second delay on each NCAA tournaments subsequent yr after a number of gamers used expletives in postgame interviews.
Miami’s Future Harden was the newest. Requested by the ESPN2 crew to explain her game-winning shot that knocked out No. 1 seed Indiana, Harden credited Hurricanes assistant coach Fitzroy Anthony.
“He informed me face up and hit the (expletive) shot — excuse my language,” Harden mentioned.
Gonzaga’s Drew Timme used the identical phrase after his crew’s woin Sunday night time. After Florida Atlantic received to achieve the Candy 16, Johnell Davis informed Jamie Ehrdahl that, “I’ve been making an attempt to show this (expletive) since Day 1 … oh no.”
Ehrdahl responded with the quote of the event.
“That’s alright,” she mentioned, “we’re on TruTV, man.”
