Women’s basketball: Miami, FIU still contending after weekend wins

Both of the Magic City’s women’s college basketball teams notched impressive wins at home this past weekend, putting them in a better position with their respective conference tournaments on the horizon.

The Miami Hurricanes defeated the California Golden Bears 69-60 on Sunday behind Ra Shaya Kyle’s 16 points and 14 rebounds. Gal Raviv scored 13 points, Vittoria Blasigh added 12 points, and Ahmad Adams chipped in 10 points.

The Hurricanes were efficient from the three-point line (7-of-10) while defending the Bears to an 8-of-33 clip from behind the arc.

Much like Jai Lucas in his first year, Tricia Cullop shuffled the roster through the transfer portal entering her second season.

Kyle, a graduate student who transferred to Miami after three seasons in Florida and two in Purdue, is enjoying a career year with the Canes, averaging 16 points and 10.1 rebounds per game entering Sunday.

Raviv transferred to Miami after averaging 17.9 points per game at Quinnipiac. In a tougher conference, she is still contributing with 13.5 points and 4 assists per game. Amarachi Kimpson was coming off a 14.5 PPG season at UNLV before coming to Miami, where she is averaging 12 PPG.

Blasigh was a starter for two years at South Florida before becoming a key role player off the bench in Miami. Her 12 points off the bench were her highest since Feb. 5 against Virginia. She also averaged 12.3 points per game during an eight-game stretch from Dec. 3 to Jan. 15.

With three straight wins to rebound from a four-game skid, the Hurricanes have the opportunity to finish with a 9-9 conference record with favorable matchups against Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech. The ACC is currently projected by Bracketology to send nine teams to March Madness. It just so happens that nine teams in the ACC have 10 conference wins.

The Hurricanes missed their chance to have 10 wins when they lost to their rivals on the road. Ending the regular season on a five-game winning streak and notching a couple of wins in the conference tournament may give Miami a chance to crash the party.

Can FIU take C-USA?

Record-wise at 17-9, Florida International is the best women’s basketball team in South Florida.

The Panthers concluded the home slate of their schedule with a 66-45 win over Liberty to improve to 10-5 in conference play, which is good for second place in C-USA behind Louisiana Tech (21-5, 14-1). The friendly confines have been kind to the Panthers, who went 12-4 at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

The Panthers are led by Rhema Collins, who went from a bench player from Ole Miss to a full-time starter averaging 18 points and nine rebounds, and two steals per game. She turned in a 16-point-10 rebound double-double against Liberty after two straight games of 20+ points.

Parris Atkins is averaging 17 points per game in her second season at FIU. She scored 25 points with 3-of-5 clip from the three-point line against Liberty on Sunday after dropping a 17-point-10 rebound double-double against Delaware on Thursday before.

The Panthers are 5-5 on the road and will finish the regular season with three straight road games, at Missouri State, Middle Tennessee, and Western Kentucky. Louisiana Tech may be the only team in C-USA that could potentially make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid should they not win the conference tournament.

FIU will have to win the C-USA Tournament if the Panthers are going to have a shot at making their first March Madness appearance since 2002.