Bench steps up, UM women beat No. 21 Mississippi St. 74-68 on road in ACC-SEC Challenge
The University of Miami women’s basketball team remained undefeated and surely will get some notice from pollsters after upsetting No. 21 Mississippi State 74-68 on the road in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
The Hurricanes improved to 6-0 and the Bulldogs (8-1) lost their first game of the season.
It was UM’s first road non-conference regular season win over a ranked team since 2016 against Ohio State, as well as the team’s first-ever ranked SEC-road win.
Three of the Hurricanes’ biggest performers came off the bench. Arizona transfer guard Lamyah Hylton was UM’s highest scorer with 16 points, one of four Hurricanes in double figures. Forward Lazaria “Zee” Spearman had 11 points and 15 rebounds and helped UM gain a 49-23 edge on the boards. Duke transfer Shayeann Day-Wilson chipped in 10 points and six assists.
“We are still figuring out who we are,” UM coach Katie Meier said in a post-game interview on WVUM. “Some performances off the bench. At halftime we looked at the plus-minus, every starter was minus, every bench player was positive, so we mixed up our lineups. That’s going to happen. I don’t lose faith in my players, not at all, but look what happened from the bench.”
Meier was delighted with Spearman’s play.
“Could not be happier for Zee, an incredible performance,” Meier said.
Starting guard Jasmyne Roberts went 6-of-11 for 15 points, was 3-of-4 from three-point range and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Hurricanes return home to the Watsco Center Sunday for a noon game against NJIT.
