No. 9 Miami completed one of the greatest comebacks in women’s NCAA tournament history with a 62-61 victory over No. 8 Oklahoma State in the Greenville 2 region on Saturday as the Cowgirls missed a game-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 on a seemingly quick five-second call against Miami as the Hurricanes tried to force their way into the ball. Oklahoma State’s Naomie Alnatas drove to the track as time expired, but her shot bounced off the glass against the rim.
Miami defeated Oklahoma State by 13 points in the third quarter after trailing 37–20 at halftime. The Hurricanes put up 20 points in the third quarter and held Oklahoma State to seven to cut the lead to 44–40 before the start of the fourth. Miami then took the lead with just under nine minutes left on Destiny Harden’s jumper and never trailed the rest of the way.
The 17-point deficit that Miami overcame tied for the fifth-largest 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% from the field and were only 14 of 35 from within the 3-point line.
Yet they still had a chance to win the game after Anna Gret Asi banked a corner 3 with five seconds left to cut Miami’s lead to one. Miami had the ball in midcourt after a timeout and didn’t get much leeway with the five-second call. The sideline umpire blew his whistle to indicate the ball was ready for play before the ball was in Miami’s hands to enter.
The last two minutes of the game were also a slog. Officials took to the sidelines as many as five times for replay reviews.
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 play Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday as OSU ends the season at 21-12.