GREENSBORO, N.C. — The University of Miami men’s basketball team might not be the only Hurricane team headed to the NCAA Tournament.
The women’s team is 21-10, with signature wins over No. 5 Duke and No. 8 Penn State. ESPN-W bracketologist Charlie Crème projects the Canes as a No. 9 seed in Spokane, Wash.
UM coach Katie Meier and her team will gather at 7 p.m. Monday to find out their fate.
The Canes, who finished 11-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beat Virginia Tech 45-39 in the first round of the ACC tournament, but then lost by 12 to Florida State.
They had hoped to go deeper in the conference tournament, but their Feb. 28 win over Duke is a huge plus on their résumé. The Blue Devils were 26-1 and 16-0 in the conference going into that game.
After UM beat the Blue Devils 69-65 at the Bank- United Center, Meier said: “We know our situation, and we needed a late-season signature win. We couldn’t hang our hat on the Penn State win.
“We hope this is a springboard. This is not the final chapter. We say the rest is still unwritten. I hope we have a lot of pages left to write.”
Last year at this time the Hurricanes were ranked No. 8 in the AP poll a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
They had hopes of reaching the Final Four. But they traveled to Spokane for their first-round game without all-ACC guard Riquna Williams, who was left home for disciplinary reasons.
The Canes won their opener easily, 70-41 over Idaho State. But they lost in the second round to No. 11 seed Gonzaga, which was playing on its home court.
UM ended the season 26-6.
