#WBB Drops Season-Opener at Miami

Friday, November 8

Coral Gables, Fla.

5 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-1

Miami

1-0

North Florida

Miami

Photo by: JC Ridley

11/8/2013 9:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of North Florida women's basketball was unable to overcome a night of cold shooting, falling 79-39 to Miami at the BankUnited Center in the season-opener for both teams.

UNF was 23.7 percent from the floor, going 14-for-59. Destinee Smith scored a team-high 10 points, while Paulina Zaveckaite grabbed seven rebounds.

Miami shot 44.6 percent (29-for-65) from the floor and had four players with double-digit points. Krystal Saunders tallied 15 points, while Suriya McGuire added 15. Jessica Thomas and Keyona Hayes each had 13.

The Hurricanes also out-rebounded the Ospreys, 48-42. Hayes had a team-high nine rebounds. Miami also recorded nine team boards.

UNF quickly found itself trailing Miami as the Hurricanes opened with an 11-0 run. Smith's jumper at 12:46 halted the run, but McGuire had her own five-point run to put Miami up 16-2 at 11:53. Miami went up by 23 as Thomas' three-pointer at 8:57 made it 28-5.

Smith then sparked an 8-3 Osprey run with a jumper at 8:46, allowing UNF to cut Miami's lead down to 18. A layup from Bailey Florin capped the run as Miami held a 31-13 lead with 6:06 left in the half. The Hurricanes pushed their lead to 24 points twice in the final 4:19, before UNF trimmed the deficit to 19 behind a pair of Zaveckaite foul shots and a Florin trey heading into the break. UM led 39-20 at the half.

In the second half, Miami utilized a 17-0 run in the middle of the frame that allowed the Hurricanes to go up 63-27 at 11:47. After trading buckets, including one from Zaveckaite at 9:51, UNF experienced a six-minute, 35-second scoring drought that where Miami scored nine consecutive points to build a 74-31 lead.

A Florin three at the 3:16 mark ended the Ospreys' scoreless streak. Miami would eventually extend its advantage to 43 points twice, including the last at 2:03. However, UNF collected the game's final points with a jumper from Janeá Williams and an Octavia Langston free throw to set the final score.

North Florida finishes its season-opening weekend Sunday in Gainesville against Florida. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.