WATCH: Miami women's basketball stuns 1-seed Indiana in dramatic fashion
There has been another major upset in the women’s March Madness tournament. In Monday night’s matchup between the Miami Hurricanes and Indiana Hoosiers, the 9-seeded Hurricanes bested the 1-seeded Hoosiers 70-68.
It was Miami’s second tournament victory over Indiana in as many nights as the Hurricanes eliminated the Hoosiers on the men’s side on Sunday to advance to their third-straight Sweet Sixteen.
For Miami women’s hoops, they haven’t made the Sweet Sixteen in over 30 years.
The matchup between the two teams came down to the wire, with Miami’s Destiny Harden making a massive basket in the paint with 3.3 seconds to go in the game to take the lead. You can check out the Hurricanes’ game-winning basket in the video below.
Miami might have entered Monday night’s contest as underdogs, but they sure did not start out the game looking as such. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 20-12 lead in the first quarter and continued to build on that on it in the second. The Hurricanes would then proceed to outscore the Hoosiers 21-17 in the second quarter to take a 41-29, 12-point lead into the half.
Indiana’s head coach Terri Moren must have composed an all-time halftime speech because her squad came out strong to start the third quarter. The Hoosiers outplayed the Hurricanes on both offense and defense to win the quarter 19-8 and would enter the last quarter trailing 49-48. And with that, the stage was set for a fourth-quarter filled with fireworks.
Both teams traded baskets back and forth. Indiana was able to tie the game on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter but was never able to wrestle the lead away from Miami. The Hoosiers tied the game late at 68 with a three-point basket by guard Yarden Garzon before Harden’s go-ahead basket. Indiana had a chance at a potential game-tying or game-winning basket. But the pass into the front court by Chloe Moore-McNeil was picked off by Jasmyne Roberts to seal the game for Miami.
Harden, along with fellow Hurricane forward, Lola Penande, led the charge on the evening. Harden finished the game with 18 points on 5-9 shooting from the field and 3-4 from beyond the arc, and five rebounds. Penande was Miami’s leading scorer with 19 points on 9-7 from the field and seven rebounds.
With the victory, the Hurricanes have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and will face the 4-seeded Villanova Wildcats. No time has been set for tip-off for that upcoming contest, but it is scheduled to be played on March 24.