After a loss to North Carolina State last Thursday, the Miami Hurricanes (13-7, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)) added one to the win column with an 86-65 victory over the Boston College Eagles (13-10, 3-7 ACC) Thursday night at the Watsco Center.
Fifth-year senior forward Destiny Harden was the standout performer for Miami. She scored a season-high 23 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, snatched a career-high 7 steals and left the game to a standing ovation from the fans at the Watsco Center.
“It was a really special and inspirational performance [from Harden],” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “She knew what was on the line. This was a separation game. It was one of those games where it could really help you or it could really hurt you.”
Boston College (BC) was on fire right from the jump, with guard JoJo Lacey knocking down three consecutive shots from behind the arc. The Eagles took an early 14-2 lead in the first quarter, which led to a Miami timeout.
Offensively and defensively, the ‘Canes looked out of sync in the first, giving up easy baskets and turning the ball over multiple times.
Miami shot 33% from the field in the first half, going 13-of-34 on 2-point attempts and 0-of-5 from deep.
The poor shooting and lack of defensive effort and communication gave the Eagles a 41-37 lead going into the half.
The ‘Canes came out in the second half looking like a completely different team.
10 straight points by senior guard Haley Cavinder gave Miami a 54-52 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Hurricanes shot 68% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line in the second half.
Defensively, they racked up 22 steals, forced 27 turnovers and held the Eagles to only 24 second-half points on 31% shooting.
Fifth-year guard Karla Erjavec also had a nice game of her own with 13 points, three assists and two steals off the bench.
“Karla’s performance was so meaningful for our team. She’s been struggling and she admits that, but she’s been positive all week,” Meier said. “She has worked her tail off and kept saying I’m good.”
The ‘Canes will look for their second straight win when they take on Wake Forest this Sunday at 2 p.m. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.