The Hurricanes did it again. After taking down No. 4 Notre Dame 72-65 on Feb. 7, Miami inched away with the lead from No. 2 ranked Louisville in the final minutes of Sunday's game, securing the 79-73 victory on a series of free throws from Laura Cornelius and Emese Hof for its second upset of a women's basketball top 5 team in the past ten days.
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The Cardinals were 11 of 34 from the 3-point line compared to Miami's 6-for-8 performance, and although Louisville converted 11 points from Miami's 13 turnovers, the Hurricanes certainly capitalized on the foul line, shooting 19-for-25 on free throws.
The stats say it all! pic.twitter.com/HrNxbuv4Mg
— Canes Women's BBall (@CanesWBB) February 17, 2019
Louisville got the slight jump on Miami through the first period, stretching the lead at its largest to a 29-16 gap early in the second quarter. Miami kept pace with the Cardinals throughout the rest of the game, though, and entered the fourth quarter just four points off the lead. The Hurricanes continued to chase the lead until a layup from Hof evened the score with under five minutes left, only for Louisville's Dana Evans to respond with a 3-pointer.
After another minute of play Hof tied things up at 68 off a jump shot, and after a scoreless two minutes gave Miami the lead for good on a layup. Louisville scored only twice more, and it wouldn't be enough to overcome Miami with a final score of 79-73.
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After scoring a season-high 34 points against Virginia Tech last week, Louisville guard Asia Durr was held to just 16 points by the Hurricanes defense. To counter that, Miami's Emese Hof matched her previous season high, netting 25 points for Miami with a 62.5 field goal percentage and scoring 71.4 percent from the line. She helped keep Miami at pace with Louisville with three steals and seven rebounds on the night. Teammate Laura Cornelius was perfect on her two 3-point attempts and was 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
The best in the business!! 💯💯 pic.twitter.com/Ar55d4yKEM
— Canes Women's BBall (@CanesWBB) February 17, 2019
Although the teams are widely separated in poll standings, Miami was just one spot behind Louisville in the ACC conference standings coming into the game. It now stands tied atop the league with No. 6 Notre Dame, who Miami upset on Feb. 7. Miami's win against Louisville halts a nine-game win streak for the Cardinals, and marks just the second loss of the season for Louisville.
MIAMI STREAKING: Hurricanes are one of 5 teams you don't want to faceLET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
— Miami Hurricanes (@MiamiHurricanes) February 17, 2019
🚨 @CanesWBB beats ANOTHER TOP FIVE TEAM! 🚨
#20 Miami goes on the road and defeats #2 Louisville, 79-73! pic.twitter.com/JXtOCuGnEJ
