The Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team were only a few hours removed from punching their ticket to the Elite 8 for the first time in program history meanwhile, another big showdown loomed. Miami head coach Katie Meier needed some time, she had said.
“First thing I said is, like, give me an hour to be human,” Meier said.
That’s why Meier followed the program’s first-ever trip to the Elite 8 by spending time with her family in her hotel room after the monumental victory. It was an example of how the Hurricanes are cherishing a wild March Madness run even while determined to keep winning.
“There’s a balance,” but I think just being where our feet are,” LifeWallet athlete and Hurricanes guard Hanna Cavinder said. “I mean, obviously we have a lot to celebrate, but we’re not done. And I think we all understand that.”
The Greenville 2 Region final presents the first ticket to Dallas for the semifinals of the women’s tournament. The ninth-seeded Hurricanes can join the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1998 as the lowest-ever seed to reach the women’s Final Four. They will first have to get past the third-seed LSU Tigers on Sunday to accomplish that feat.
The LSU Tigers are one of only eight programs to reach at least five Final Fours in history. Head coach Kim Mulkey won three national championships during her tenure at Baylor University and is in her second go-around with the Tigers. They are fresh off of a victory over the second-seed Utah Utes on Saturday to reach their first Elite Eight since 2008.
“You’d better listen,” Tigers star forward Angel Reese said. “Kim Mulkey not playing. We listen to her, we respect Coach. She knows better than anybody else.”
For Miami, the rise to the elite of collegiate women’s basketball is quite sudden, their prior Sweet 16 came in 1992.
The Hurricanes would first complete a comeback rally over Oklahoma State, where they came back from a 17-point deficit. Then they won against first-seed Indiana in Indiana, on a game winning shot from Destiny Harden. Then they would hang on late against Villanova after blowing a 21-point lead, led by a 26-point performance from Jasmyne Roberts.
“Every game gets bigger,” Destiny Harden said. “And we expect that. … I think to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”
Miami certainly has gone through some of the best, including the best players in the country and the task continues to create challenges the more that they advance.
Angel Reese will be the third consecutive AP First-Team All-American to matchup against the Hurricanes this post-season. Reese ranks fifth in scoring (23.5 PPG), second in rebounding (15.6 RPG) and first in double-doubles (31) in the entire country.
The Hurricanes have taken down two other AP All-American first-teamers in Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes and Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist. Siegrist the national scoring leader, had recorded 31 points and 13 rebounds on Saturday against Miami.
Famous rapper Lil Wayne has shown some love to the Lady Canes as well during their March Madness run.
Lil Tunechi would FaceTime with twins and LifeWallet athletes, Haley and Hanna Cavinder, to celebrate Miami’s win over the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday. Hurricane players in the locker room would freak out and gather around the phone to join the moment.
“I think he likes women’s basketball and that’s a win for women’s basketball,” Haley Cavinder said. “Hopefully he comes to the game if he likes Angel Reese and our team.”
The Tigers head coach in Kim Mulkey generated quite the national hurrah while sporting her flamboyant outfit for the Utah win. Mulkey was spotted wearing a multi-colored patterned jacket that had bright pink feathers and frills running the length of both sleeves.
Mulkey said afterward she has a stylist who picks out her look.
“We know she’s coming with something spicy,” Angel Reese said, adding: “It’s a surprise to her as well.”
As for Hurricanes head coach Katie Meier?
“I don’t know what Kim is going to wear,” she said, “but I’m going to wear overalls.”
Tip-off is set for 7:00 P.M. EST at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. The game will broadcast on the ESPN network.
