It had a sense that Saturday was less an ending than a marker of how far Miami had come.
The No. 13 seed RedHawks saw their season end with an 82-54 loss to No. 4 West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Amber Scalia scored 14 points to lead the RedHawks (28-7), Amber Tretter added 13 points and Ilse de Vries finished with 12 points and two blocked shots. Tamar Singer had nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for Miami, which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.
“We ran into a buzzsaw today,” Miami coach Glenn Box said. ”We ran into a really good team. Our kids fought. They competed for 40 minutes and I could be no more proud of a team than I am of this team.
“It wasn’t our day, but we live, we learn, and we improve.”
West Virginia (28-6) advanced to face No. 5 Kentucky on Monday, March 23, behind a balanced effort led by Sydney Shaw’s 19 points, Gia Cooke’s 18 and Jordan Harrison’s 15 points and eight assists. Kierra Wheeler added 14 points and nine rebounds as the Mountaineers shot 50.8% from the field and outscored Miami 48-22 in the paint.
Miami briefly showed the poise that carried it through a historic season.
Tretter scored on a right-handed move in the lane, then helped set up baskets for de Vries and Singer as the RedHawks settled in early. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Tretter and Núria Jurjo highlighted an 8-0 run that gave Miami a 14-11 lead with 2:39 left in the first quarter.
That was when West Virginia took control.
The Mountaineers closed the opening quarter on an 11-0 run to move ahead 22-14, then stretched the margin to 40-26 by halftime.
Miami stayed within reach for stretches of the second quarter, getting a 3-pointer from Tretter and a late trey from de Vries, but West Virginia repeatedly turned RedHawks mistakes into points. The Mountaineers scored 21 points off 15 Miami turnovers and took advantage of their size and pressure to keep the lead in double figures.
West Virginia put the game away in the third.
The Mountaineers opened the second half on an 8-0 burst and pushed the lead to 22 before Miami answered. de Vries scored inside, Tretter knocked down a jumper and Scalia hit consecutive 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 53-35 midway through the quarter. Another de Vries 3-pointer got Miami within 17.
That was as close as it got.
West Virginia answered with another surge, closing the third quarter with a 16-3 run to build a 69-41 lead. Harrison beat the buzzer with a layup to end the period, one of several backbreaking baskets for the Mountaineers, who shot 57.1% in the third and scored 29 points in the quarter alone.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The fourth quarter served mostly as a closing chapter. Scalia scored seven points in the period, including a late transition 3-pointer, and Macie Taylor added Miami’s final basket of the season.
The loss ended one of the best seasons in program history.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Singer closed the year with 243 assists, shattering Miami’s single-season record of 175, and tied for fourth on the program’s single-season steals list with 90. Tretter moved into 21st on Miami’s career scoring list with 1,152 points, passing Tonya Stubbs. de Vries finished the season with 65 blocked shots, the most in a single season in school history.
The atmosphere matched the occasion. An announced crowd of 13,504 — the largest ever for a West Virginia women’s basketball game — filled the building for the NCAA Tournament doubleheader and gave Miami a March setting its players will not soon forget.
“I really enjoyed it,” de Vries said. “We never played for such a big crowd as we had today … it was motivation for me.”
Tretter felt the same.
“It was the biggest crowd that I’ve ever played in front of,” Tretter said. “Going forward too, these are great experiences.
“We’re both going to be here next year, so this is a great thing we can use for our future as well.”
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