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CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team outlasted the Clemson Tigers (13-11, 4-8 ACC) Thursday night at Littlejohn Coliseum, recording a 69-66 overtime victory, its first overtime win since Jan. 30, 2020.
The game featured nine lead changes and six ties, but ultimately came down to a layup by senior Lola Pendande with 31 seconds to play in overtime that put Miami (14-8, 7-4 ACC) ahead, 68-66. The Almeria, Spain, native added a free throw in the final seconds of the game to seal the win for the Hurricanes.
“In February, any win is huge, but a road win in February against a very high-quality opponent is massive,” head coach Katie Meier said. “Clemson played a heck of a fourth quarter and overtime was anyone’s game.”
Pendande finished the night with 15 points and nine rebounds and was joined in double-figures by graduate student Destiny Harden, who poured in 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Sophomore Jasmyne Roberts tallied the second 20-point outing of her career with a game-best 21 points. Senior Haley Cavinder led the Hurricanes in rebounding, totaling nine boards in the contest.
“The key to our team is the versatility in the three and four spot,” Meier said. “The unsung hero of the game was Lazaria Spearman. She defensive rebounded for us when we were getting slaughtered on the glass in the third quarter and that changed the game for us.”
The Hurricanes won the battle on the glass, 12-9, in the first quarter, but Clemson used a 47 percent shooting effort to take an early 17-14 lead after one. However, Harden kept Miami in the game, tallying nine of her 19 points in the first 10 minutes.
Miami settled into its offense in the second quarter, shooting 58 percent from the field, paced by Pendande who went 3-for-3 and totaled eight points in the quarter. Both the Hurricanes and the Tigers scored 18 points in the frame to keep the Clemson lead at three heading into halftime.
“The real key moment in the game was around the media timeout in the second quarter, we were down seven on the road,” 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 Hurricanes came out of the locker room a different team, embarking on an 11-0 run to start the third quarter and take their first lead since the 4:00 mark in the first. Roberts put the team on her back, recording 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the third frame, in addition to three rebounds and two assists.
Miami outscored Clemson, 23-9, in the third quarter and held the Tigers to a 16.7 percent clip from the field.
However, the Tigers would not go away quietly, starting the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to five. Clemson continued to pour in the points, ultimately taking a 62-60 lead with 2:02 to go in the game.
Roberts tied the game at 62-all on a jumper with 1:02 to play, a score that would ultimately send the game to overtime.
Three different Hurricanes scored a bucket in the overtime period, but none more important than the layup by Pendande with 31 seconds to play. The forward knocked down 1-of-2 at the charity stripe in the final seconds to give Miami a three-point lead, which it would maintain the rest of the game.
Miami returns to the Watsco Center on Sunday for its Pink Game against Georgia Tech. Tipoff in Coral Gables is set for 12 p.m. and the game will air on ACC Network.
Single-game tickets are available for purchase online or by calling the Miami Hurricanes ticket office at 1-800-GO-CANES. For more details, dial that number or email canestix@miami.edu.
MiamiHurricanes.com –
