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Teams: Syracuse Orange (8-6, 2-1) vs. Miami Hurricanes (9-6, 1-3)
Day and Time: Sunday January 12, noon ET
Location: Watsco Center, Coral Gables, Fla.
Where to Watch: ACC Network
Miami Blog: State of the U
Current Record: 20-10, Miami
First Meeting: Syracuse beat the ‘Canes down in Coral Gables, 78-62 back in 1988.
Last Meeting: After suffering an early defeat from the Hurricanes in the regular season, the Orange beat Miami in the ACC Tournament by a score of 92-85.
Head Coaches: Syracuse - Quentin Hillsman (14th season, 295-151 at SU) | Miami - Katie Meier (15hth season, 286-178 at Miami)
Coach Bio: Katie Meier has a pretty impressive basketball background. She played her college ball at Duke (boo) where she averaged double digit scoring in each of her four years as a Blue Devil. She ranks a pretty remarkable third in scoring average, steals, free throws made, and free throw averages. She took over the reigns for the Charlotte 49’ers in 2001, making three postseason tournaments including one NCAA tournament in the 2002-2003 season. In 2005, she went back to the ACC when she became the head coach at Miami. She has made five consecutive NCAA tournaments, but has never gotten past the second round.
Last Year: Miami had a very solid year last season, as they finished 4th in the ACC with a 25-9 record. On February 17, they went into Louisville and beat the Cardinals when they were ranked second in the nation. As a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament, they beat Florida Gulf Coast (friend of the program) in the first round, followed by a heartbreaking loss to Arizona State.
Last Game: Louisville absolutely took it to the Hurricanes, beating them 87-41, but it really wasn’t even that close.
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Before Miami dropped three straight, they were in the top 25 thanks in large part to Mykea Gray. Gray can shoot the rock from long range, and could be a problem if the Syracuse zone doesn’t get out and guard her. In their last win against Wake Forest, she scored 17 points, 10 in the fourth quarter alone to propel her team to victory. She averages 11.5 PPG on the year.
If Syracuse Wins: What a weekend for Syracuse sports. New defensive and offensive coordinators, Syracuse MBB beat Virginia on the road, and the women keep it rolling with a win over Miami. Life is good. This team is good.
If Syracuse loses: Yuck. Miami is really down right now and Syracuse is arguably riding the biggest high in women’s hoops right now. Wouldn’t look great on the resume if Miami continues to struggle after this one.