Roberts, Haley Cavinder lead UM women, but No. 17 North Carolina holds on to win 69-60

Fans left the Watsco Center disappointed on Sunday night as the No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team, 69-60.

Miami’s (11-2, 1-1) Atlantic Coast Conference matchup against North Carolina (13-2, 1-1) was the Hurricanes’ first game against a ranked opponent this season. The Tar Heels were favored by 11 points and boasted the sixth-best scoring defense in the country.

Star guard Haley Cavinder, named Tournament MVP in the Maui Classic, posted her fourth consecutive double-double, putting up 19 points and 11 rebounds. However, the standout performance of the contest came from Tar Heels center Maria Gakdeng, who put up 21 points and 12 rebounds while going 7 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Forward Cameron Williams, coming off of a standout performance in the final game of the Maui Classic, was held to just nine points and eight rebounds. Jasmine Roberts made a valiant effort, knocking in four shots from beyond the arc and tallying 19 points, but it was not enough.

North Carolina’s defense suffocated lanes to the hoop, forcing Miami into tough contested jumpers. The Hurricanes shot just 39.1 percent from the field and were held to just 20.7 percent from three-point range. Miami also committed 15 turnovers, as opposed to North Carolina’s four.

“You can’t win ball games vs. that quality of team with 15 turnovers,” remarked Haley Cavinder, who committed six turnovers. “I need to focus on taking care of the ball.”

North Carolina’s offense also made a statement in the game. In addition to Gakdeng’s contributions, fifth-year graduate student Alyssa Ustby added 19 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Indya Nivar added 11 points.

The game was close battle for most of the first quarter, but the Tar Heels began to pull away in the final minutes. At the start of the second quarter, North Carolina held a 21-14 lead, which grew to as large as 17 points with 3:14 remaining in the first half. Though Miami would cut the deficit to just 10 at halftime, their efforts would not be enough.

North Carolina is in the middle of a stretch that now includes back-to-back matchups against No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 14 Duke

After the game, Miami head coach Tricia Cullop told reporters, “We’re this close to being as good as we want to be, and we just got to keep striving to get there.”

The Canes’ next game is a road test against Louisville on Thursday, Jan. 2.