No. 9 Miami made one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Women’s Tournament history with a 62-61 victory over No. 8 Oklahoma State in Greenville Area 2 on Saturday as the Cowgirls took missed a winning shot at the buzzer.
Oklahoma State trailed by five points with less than a minute left and had a chance to win with five seconds left after a seemingly quick five-second call against Miami as the Hurricanes tried to get the ball in. Oklahoma State’s Naomie Alnatas headed for the lane as time expired, but her shot off the glass bounced off the edge.
Miami edged Oklahoma State by 13 points in the third quarter after leading 37-20 at halftime. The Hurricanes had 20 points in the third quarter and held Oklahoma State to seven points to cut the lead to 44-40 heading into the fourth. Miami then took the lead with just under nine minutes remaining on Destiny Harden’s jumper and never trailed the rest of the way.
The 17-point deficit Miami overcame is tied for the fifth-biggest comeback in NCAA women’s tournament history. Oklahoma State controlled the first half but went cold in the second half. The Cowgirls shot less than 40 percent from the field and were just 14 of 35 inside the 3-point line.
Still, they still had a chance to win the game after Anna Gret Asi took a corner 3 with five seconds left to cut Miami’s lead to one. Miami had the ball at half court after a timeout and didn’t have much wiggle room with the five-second call. The official on the sideline whistled to signal the ball was ready for play before the ball was in Miami’s hands to get it in.
The last two minutes of the match were also difficult. Officials went to the sidelines for replay reviews no less than five times.
Haley Cavinder led Miami with 16 points and her free throw with eight seconds left to give Miami a four-point lead ended up being the winning margin. The Hurricanes will face Indiana on Monday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament while OSU ends the season at 21-12.