Miami women’s basketball drop third straight, lose 67-56 to UVA

The Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team fell short to the Virginia Cavaliers in an epic ACC matchup on Thursday evening. Losing 67-56, Miami is now 12-11 while Virginia sits at 16-7 overall.

Despite the loss, there were several stand out performances with Ra Shaya Kyle, Gal Raviv, Vittoria Blasigh and Amarachi Kimpson all scoring in the double digits.

The Canes started off strong with the first score of the game following a spin move from freshman forward Soma Okolo. However, on the other side, Virginia answered with four straight points.

The Cavaliers held the lead for more than five minutes of the first quarter. Miami was able to tighten the game, ending the period 14-10 after a three pointer from Blasigh. 

The Canes started to fight back after the deficit, tying the game at 14-14 following back-to-back jumpers from Raviv and freshman forward Natalie Wetzel. The two teams went back and forth in scoring, but Miami finally widened the gap with two free-throws from Kyle and a pull-jumper from Kimpson.

UVA had the final basket of the half, making the score 26-25 Miami.

Although the Hurricanes were going strong the entire first half, they slowly lost their momentum going into the third, and the Cavaliers were able to secure a 13-1 scoring run forcing the Canes to respond. 

And Okolo did just that, working on both sides of the ball with a tip in lay-up, six points in the game and three of Miami’s eight rebounds in the third quarter. 

The Hurricanes shot a game low of 28.6 percent from the field in the third, and it showed from the score with Virginia leading 47-38. 

The final ten minutes consisted of similar play to the last ten, with Miami lagging behind. They were only able to put up six points in the first five minutes, all coming from free throws. In the end, the Cavaliers outscored the Canes 20-18 in the final quarter.

Miami will have a chance for redemption on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against in-state rival, FSU.