Friday’s March Madness: No. 1 Seeds Alabama and Houston Are Out

But the ninth-seeded Hurricanes stopped the reversal in the final minute, scoring 6 straight points to beat fourth-seeded Villanova on Friday, 70-65, to advance to its first round-of-8 game in the women’s N.C.A.A. tournament.

“I can’t believe it,” Miami Coach Katie Meier said. “I’m not going to act cool. This is awesome.”

Villanova had cruised to the round of 16, beating its lower-seeded opponents by an average of 18 points. The Wildcats seemed to be building for a run behind their star, Maddy Siegrist, the top scorer in Division I.

But from the beginning of Friday’s game, it was clear that this matchup would be much different from Villanova’s earlier games.

Miami’s defense smothered Villanova’s ballhandlers, hounding them as soon as they inbounded the ball. Miami’s speed and physicality made up for a height disadvantage and forced rushed shots and turnovers, causing Villanova’s offense to look confused. By the time Villanova seemed to have figured Miami’s defense out in the second half, it appeared to be too late.

But Siegrist, who scored a game-high 31 points, led a furious rally in the third and fourth quarters as Miami tightened up, seemingly fearful of spiraling. Still, the Hurricanes held close even though they blew their lead.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/sports/ncaabasketball/march-madness-friday.html