Miami women hold on, beat Villanova for first trip to Elite 8

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — The horn sounded andMiami coach Katie Meier turned to start jumping and hugging herstaff as players and cheerleaders sprinted past for ameet-at-midcourt celebration. She soon made her way into the crowdto embrace players hollering with delight.

Soon she emerged through the other side to trade hugs andhigh-fives with a front-row section of Hurricanes fans.

An improbable and emotional ride to the program’s first EliteEight appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament was worth sharingwith as many people as she could.

“I can’t believe it,” Meier said afterward. “I’m not going toact cool. This is awesome.”

Jasmyne Roberts scored a career-high 26 points — including astick-back for the go-ahead, three-point play with 38.8 secondsleft — to help Miami overcome blowing a 21-point lead and beatVillanova 70-65 on Friday, pulling the program to within a win ofthe Final Four.

Miami had reached the Sweet 16 only once before, in 1992. Nowthe Hurricanes will play Sunday for the Greenville Region 2 titleagainst third-seeded LSU.

The ninth-seeded Hurricanes (22-12) looked dominant in buildinga huge lead, wobbly in blowing it. But they hung on down thestretch after Villanova made its push back behind the latestbig-scoring effort from Associated Press first-team All-AmericanMaddy Siegrist.

“I can’t even explain the feeling really,” guard Haley Cavindersaid.

The celebration said plenty. While Meier made her way to thefans, Roberts stayed locked in a firm and emotional embrace withteammate Ja’Leah Williams. The sophomore guard picked a perfecttime to come through with a huge performance by making 10 of 16shots and all six of her free throws while pulling down ninerebounds.

“Cool Hand Luke is her new nickname. She doesn’t even know thatmovie,” Meier said, referencing the Paul Newman movie released morethan three decades before Roberts’ birth.

Siegrist, the nation’s scoring leader, had 31 points, 13rebounds and five steals for fourth-seeded Villanova (30-7). Itmarked her third 30-point outing in as many tournament games,pushing her to the No. 2 single-season scoring total in Division Ihistory.

Yet it wasn’t enough down the stretch, with Siegrist coming upempty in a couple of key moments late. The first came when sheposted up Destiny Harden inside, but a quality look on a turnaroundhit the backboard before coming off the rim with her team down just67-65.

Moments later, after a Miami free throw, Siegrist missed fromthe other side of the lane as Villanova had a chance to extend thegame. Instead, Miami secured the rebound, and Roberts hit clinchingfree throws with 11.1 seconds left for a two-possession lead.

Miami originally appeared to be headed for a much easierfinish.

The Hurricanes spent much of the first half using theirathleticism and aggressiveness to take control, both in scoring offthe dribble and attacking the glass. The Hurricanes led 46-33 byhalftime then used a stunning 8-0 burst in the opening minute ofthe second half, ending when Harden scored on a drive throughcontact from Siegrist for a three-point play that pushed Miami to a54-33 lead.

Villanova responded by throwing fullcourt pressure to get backinto the game. The Wildcats scored 14 straight points to end thethird quarter then took a 60-59 lead on Siegrist’s free throws with5:31 left to cap a 23-2 run, a stretch that had Roberts saying theHurricanes “did kind of lose our composure for a little bit.”

That set up a tense finish with neither team leading by morethan two until the final 30 seconds. Villanova took its last leadat 65-64 when Lucy Olsen banked in a drive with 49 seconds leftbefore Roberts answered with the and-1.

“My mistake,” Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “We shouldhave in the first half shown some more of the pressure, the press,but you think just a team that’s quick like that can takeadvantage. But again, just waited a little too late to make thatrun.”

Consider it the latest entry in a wild NCAA novel for theHurricanes. They first rallied from 17 down to beat Oklahoma State.Then Harden hit the late shot to win at 1-seed Indiana and get themback to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 31 years.

Now they have a chance to play for — and celebrate — a whole lotmore.

SIEGRIST’S FUTURE

An emotional Siegrist fought back tears during her postgame newsconference, and offered a hint of finality when asked about plansthat could include returning to school or pursuing the WNBA.

“I’ve got to talk to my parents and stuff like that after,” shesaid. “But I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to haveplayed here. So many good people, and it’s really about the people.Take the basketball part out of it, like the memories and thepeople are something that I’m going to cherish forever.”

TIP-INS

Siegrist closed with 37 straight 20-point games, which the NCAAsaid is the longest streak by any men’s or women’s Division Iplayer this century. ... Christina Dalce had 13 points, eightrebounds and five blocks to help Villanova do a better job ofbattling Miami inside after halftime. ... Harden had 15 points andnine rebounds for Miami, which took a 43-32 rebounding advantage.... The Wildcats made just 2 of 16 3-pointers.