The Miami Hurricanes dismantled Georgia Southern 82-56 in the opening night of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
UM made its return to postseason basketball after a two-season hiatus, meanwhile Georgia Southern made its fourth postseason appearance in school history
The first quarter started off great for the Canes, driving to the paint at will for consistent layup buckets. Georgia Southern fought to keep it close, but the Canes unleashed a 9-0 run to jump out to a 22-12 lead.
Amarachi Kimpson, Gal Raviv, and Ahnay Adams were taking over for UM as the home crowd roared at the Watsco Center.
Miami head coach Tricia Cullop was fired up, urging her team to break away from the Eagles as the second quarter began.
However, that push didn’t initially come to fruition as the Eagles closed the gap in the second quarter.
The Georgia Southern defense tightened up as the offense slowly chipped away at the Hurricane lead.
After Kimpson’s opening layup to extend the lead to 12, Georgia Southern closed the gap to two to end the half, 30-28.
Kimpson put up 19 points tonight, the Texas native has continued to shine this entire season as she sets new career highs.
Coming out of the half, Miami began to establish its offensive footing.
Adams started off with two free throws, and the Canes kept rolling from there.
The sophomore guard was a game changer, the only returning UM player on the team, using her experience the momentum going throughout the game.
The Canes closed the third quarter ahead by ten, before exploding in the final quarter.
With UM President Joe Echevarria cheering on the sideline, the Canes broke out a 19-7 run to begin the fourth quarter.
And despite Georgia Southern’s best attempts, the Eagles could not find an answer for Miami’s high-powered offense.
The Canes continued to extend the lead, closing the game 82–56.
Postgame, Cullop spoke about how impressed she was with the performance, especially with the roster turnover.
“I am so proud of this team,” Cullop said. “Anytime you get to the postseason, one thing I stress to them, every team is good now, like you can’t take a break and you gotta bring your best effort.”
After this win, the Canes will play on Sunday at the Watsco Center against three-seeded Wisconsin at 12 p.m.