Miami and Villanova Face Off in the Sweet 16 of the Women’s NCAA Tournament

In the first matchup of the Friday Sweet 16 slate, ninth-seeded Miami will face fourth-seeded Villanova in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. The contest will start at 2:30 PM ET in Greenville, South Carolina.

In The Tourney

Villanova came into the tournament as a four seed and currently bolsters a 30-6 record with tournament wins over Cleveland State and Florida Gulf Coast. They dominated both games as their win over Cleveland State University came in the first round by a score of 76-59 while their win over Florida Gulf Coast University came by a score of 76-57.

Miami came into the tournament as a nine seed and holds a 21-12 record with tournament wins over Oklahoma State and Indiana. Their win over Oklahoma State came in comeback fashion, coming back from down 17 to win 62-61. They then proceeded to upset one-seeded Indiana with a near buzzer-beater basket to win 70-68.

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Tournament History

Villanova, with their round of thirty-two win, improved their school tournament record to 11-12 all-time. Miami, on the other hand, improved to 10-15 all-time. The Hurricanes had only reached the Sweet 16 once prior to this season and it happened during the 1991-92 season, when they fell 77-67 to Vanderbilt. The Wildcats also have only made it to the Sweet Sixteen once, making it all the way to the Elite Eight in 2002-03 where they fell to Tennessee by a score of 73-49.

It Takes Players

These two teams made it this far because of who they have on their rosters. They have good players.

Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist is a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award, which is awarded to the best player in the country each season. The forward averaged 29.2 points per game, which was first in the country. Additionally, she averaged 9.1 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game and owned a 51.9% field goal percentage.

On Miami’s side, the duo of senior Haley Cavinder and graduate student Destiny Harden both earned All-ACC Second Team honors for the 2022-23 season. Cavinder averaged 12.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while Harden averaged 12.3 points per game and 5.9 boards per contest.

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