Women's Basketball

Miami Pulls Away From BC for 84-69 Win

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) –  Miami became the final team to punch its ticket to Ally Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tournament quarterfinals late Thursday, finishing strong to dispatch Boston College, 84-69, in the second-round session finale at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The sixth-seeded Hurricanes led by a single point at halftime and by a modest 60-56 margin heading into the final 10 minutes. But with Lashea Dwyer scoring 10 fourth-quarter points and Hailey Cavinder added seven, Miami found room to exhale toward the end.

The Hurricanes (19-11) will face third-seeded Virginia Tech at 8:30 p.m. (time approximate) in the final game of Friday night’s quarterfinal session. The Hurricanes grabbed a 77-66 upset win over the nationally ninth-ranked Hokies when the teams met in Coral Gables back on Jan. 8.

Thursday night’s win was Miami’s second of the season over the Eagles, and the outcome somewhat resembled the regular-season meeting between the teams. That Jan. 26 game in Coral Gables was also a tight one until the Hurricanes pulled away at the end for an 86-65 victory.

In Thursday night’s rematch – in which Miami shot 52 percent from the floor and BC connected on 50 percent of its shots – Dwyer led all scorers with 19 points and Lola Pendande stepped up for the Hurricanes with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Cavinder closed with 14 points and Destiny Harden added 13. Each player pulled down nine rebounds to lead Miami to a big 39-23 advantage on the boards.

The Eagles (16-17), who lost starting forward Ally VanTimmeren to a leg injury just 36 seconds into the game, were led by Andrea Daley’s 15 points. T’Yana Todd added 14, and Maria Gakdeng and Dontavia Waggoner each scored 12.