Miami basketball secured their first Sweet 16 spot since 1992 after defeating top-seeded Indiana 70-67 on the road in March Madness. The Hurricanes won the game thanks to a game-winning shot from Destiny Harden with 3.5 seconds left. Lola Pendande led Miami with 19 points and seven rebounds. The loss marked the end of Indiana basketball’s best season in school history, which included winning the first outright Big Ten regular-season title and picking up their first-ever No. 1 seed. Despite having an impressive performance, Indiana’s Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes were visibly upset after the game. Berger, one of the best players in school history, played her final home game, and Holmes struggled to hold back tears, saying, “It’s been great to play with her for four years. It hurts to go out this way.” Miami’s harassment defense held off Indiana’s hard-charging offense to secure the win. Miami’s men’s team also beat Indiana in the second round, making it the second time in two nights that Indiana basketball suffered a defeat. Miami will now face fourth-seeded Villanova in Greenville, South Carolina.
Miami Secures Sweet 16 Spot with Last-Second Shot
Miami’s Destiny Harden’s last-second shot in the lane with 3.5 seconds left gave her team a 70-68 road victory against top-seeded Indiana on Monday night. The Hurricanes (21-12) secured their first Sweet 16 spot since 1992. Harden said she was ready to close out the game after losing to eventual national champion South Carolina on the road last March.
Miami’s victory was the second monumental moment in the NCAA Tournament this weekend, with two No. 1 seeds losing in consecutive days. Stanford was upset on its home court Sunday night, marking the first time since 1998 that two top seeds were eliminated before the regional semifinals.
Lola Pendande led Miami with 19 points and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Harden had 18 points, including the game-winning basket. She also played a significant role in the team’s rally from a 17-point halftime deficit on Saturday.
Indiana (28-4) was in a challenging position in front of a raucous crowd that grew increasingly agitated with how the game was called and uneasy about how it played out. The team never led and fought its way back from a 12-point halftime deficit. However, they blew two chances to take the lead in the final 40 seconds, with Chloe Moore-McNeil missing a layup and Grace Berger’s midrange jumper going astray before Moore-McNeil finally tied it at 68 with a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left.
The Hurricanes were ecstatic with the win, but they also expressed their respect for Indiana. While celebrating on the Hoosiers’ home court, Miami coach Katie Meier made sure her players were mindful of their behavior, saying, “I tell my players to act like you’ve been here before, but we haven’t been, so we were being foolish.”
Miami Hands Indiana Its First Home Loss of the Season
Miami defeated top-seeded Indiana 70-67 on the road Monday night to secure its first Sweet 16 spot since 1992. Miami’s Destiny Harden made the game-winning shot with 3.5 seconds left, while Lola Pendande led the Hurricanes with 19 points and seven rebounds.
The loss marked the end of Indiana’s best season in school history, which included winning the first outright Big Ten regular-season title, finishing a school-best second in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, and picking up their first-ever No. 1 seed.
Despite having an impressive performance, Indiana’s Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes were visibly upset after the game. Berger, one of the best players in school history, played her final home game, and Holmes struggled to hold back tears, saying, “My last game with Grace, she shouldn’t go out like this. It’s been great to play with her for four years. It hurts to go out this way.”
Miami’s win was a result of their harassment defense, which held off Indiana’s hard-charging offense. Miami’s men’s team also beat Indiana in the second round, making it the second time in two nights that Indiana basketball suffered a defeat.
Miami will now face fourth-seeded Villanova in Greenville, South Carolina.
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