The Miami Hurricanes played their hearts out Sunday afternoon in an age-old faceoff with the Florida State Seminoles, falling 83-82 at their home court in Coral Gables, Fla.
Coming off of three losses prior to this matchup, the Hurricanes needed this win in order to establish themselves as a threat in ACC play. While the Seminoles (20-6, 10-4 ACC) snuck out the win, Miami (13-12, 3-11 ACC) gave its all in the game and demonstrated that it could compete with such a strong team.
For much of the first quarter, each possession became a scoring battle between the ’Canes and the ’Noles. Haley Cavinder, who was honored before the game for scoring her 2,500th career point this past Thursday, continued to provide for Miami by putting up 27 points and tallying seven assists.
While UM remained hot on the Seminoles’ heels for much of the game, it truly came to life in the fourth quarter, where the team went on a 10-point scoring run and briefly took the lead.
With 3.3 seconds left on the clock and the Hurricanes down by 1 with possession of the ball, Hanna Cavinder dished the ball to Natalija Marshall. She kicked it out to Cameron Williams for a last-second shot, but it did not fall and the ’Canes were left with the loss.
Although Williams missed what would have been the game-winning shot in the paint, head coach Tricia Cullop stated that the loss was not on her but instead a compilation of small but impactful team errors.
“We did things throughout the whole game,” Cullop said. “It just happened to be the last play.”
One huge problem for the Hurricanes throughout the game was Florida State guard O’Mariah Gordon. She put on her best performance of the season, dropping a career-high 34 points and leading her team with seven assists.
Miami had several standout performances throughout the game, including the presence of freshman Ahnay Adams.
“She continues to put herself in harm’s way so we could have a chance to win games,” Cullop said about Adams. “She’s a big part of our future.”
Miami looks to gain more ACC wins under its belt with upcoming games against No. 2 Notre Dame and Wake Forest on February 20 and 22, respectively.