Miami’s women’s basketball team took home second place in the Maggie Dixon Classic at DePaul University in Chicago, Ill this weekend.
Miami (4-1) opened the tournament with a thrilling comeback victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies, 68-67, on Nov. 22.
Miami entered the fourth quarter trailing 48-44 and found themselves down six with 1:25 seconds left to play. After one made free throw from junior guard Mykea Gray and two from redshirt senior Beatrice Mompremier, Miami got a steal with 34 seconds left and called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Miami got the ball to Mompremier, who was fouled on a lay-up attempt. Down two points with 23 seconds to go, Mompremier missed the second free throw that would have tied the game, but freshman forward Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba grab a big offensive rebound and found a wide-open Gray in the corner for the game-winning three-pointer. Junior Kelsey Marshall stopped the Aggies last-second attempt by blocking one shot and grabbing the game-sealing steal.
Gray led Miami with 19 points, Mompremier finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Marshall finished with 10 points.
With the win, Miami advanced to the championship game on Nov. 23, where they lost 89-83 in a hard-fought game against the No. 16 DePaul University Blue Demons (4-1).
In Miami’s first loss of the season, Mompremier scored a career-high 31 points on 12 of 17 shooting and grabbed 18 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Mompremier is also the first 30-point scorer for Miami since 2015.
The first half was a back and forth battle, with both teams trading the lead throughout, but no team able to maintain a lead larger than four points. The game was tied at 41 going into halftime.
DePaul went on a 14-5 run to start the third quarter and took a 55-49 lead. After being down nine, Miami put together a run of their own, scoring seven straight points to take a 56-55 lead with 3:43 seconds left to play in the third quarter. DePaul responded, scoring the last eight points of the quarter to take a six-point lead into the fourth.
Trialing for most of the fourth, Miami tried to pull off another late-game comeback and managed to cut the lead to four with 38 seconds left, but some clutch free-throw shooting from the Blue Demons helped them seal the victory. DePaul hit 17 three-pointers in the game.
Mompremier and Marshall, who finished with 22 points, were both named to the Maggie Dixon Classic All-Tournament Team.
The Hurricanes will return home on Nov. 29 when they host the No. 7 ranked Oregon State in the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament.