Miami Upset Indiana In The Final Seconds To Knock Off A Second 1-Seed

For the second straight night, a No. 1 seed has been eliminated from the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. A night after Stanford lost at home to Ole Miss in a tense defensive battle, it was Indiana’s turn to suffer a painful defeat at the hands of the Miami Hurricanes — who also knocked out the Indiana men’s squad in the second round on Sunday.

Miami jumped out to an early lead and expanded it to 12 at the half, as Lola Pendade and Destiny Harden came out red-hot to push the Canes to a double-digit lead. In the third quarter, the Hoosiers woke up as Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes went to work, pulling to within one as they outscored the Hurricanes 19-8 in the third period to set up a thrilling fourth quarter. Despite applying constant pressure, Indiana could never retake the lead, as Miami had an answer for every Hoosiers run.

On three separate occasions, the Hoosiers tied the game, but Miami was able to immediately regain an advantage each time. First it was a Holmes layup that was followed by a Pendade layup and a Haley Cavinder three that put Miami back up five with two minutes to play.

From there, it was Yarden Garzon who looked like she might be the Hoosiers hero, as she twice drilled big threes to tie the game in the final minute, including a filthy stepback with six seconds to go.

However, the Canes were able to advance the ball after a timeout and drew up a play to get the ball into Harden in the post, and she went to work, hitting a turnaround jumper over a defender that rolled in with just over three seconds to play. Indiana, without a timeout, needed to go the length of the floor and couldn’t muster a shot at the tie or the win, as the Canes pulled off the 70-68 stunner.

After the game, Harden, who finished with 18 points and five rebounds, gave a colorful explanation of the conversation in the huddle prior to her game-winning bucket.

Pendade led the Canes with 19 points and seven boards, while Jasmyne Roberts also had 16 as the Hurricanes got a bit more from the collective group than the Hoosiers on the night. Holmes and Berger combined for 39 points, but only Garzon, with 10, joined them in double figures. Seeing two top seeds go out in the first weekend is rather stunning in the women’s tournament, but Miami joins Ole Miss in shocking upset wins that send them to the Sweet 16.