Cavinder scores season-high 25, but UM women lose 76-73 in overtime to Florida Gators

Whenever the Miami Hurricanes play the Florida Gators in any sport there is extra energy surrounding the game. Sunday was no exception.

A larger-than-usual crowd showed up at the Watsco Center to see the UM and UF women’s basketball teams play each other for the first time in 12 years, and they got an overtime thriller.

But the Hurricanes and their fans went home brokenhearted after the Gators rallied from 12 down in the first half to force overtime and win 76-73. The Florida players celebrated after the final whistle and did the Gator chomp near the UM bench as the Canes trudged off the floor.

UM dropped to 7-4. UF is 10-1.

“We’re going to feel real bad about this one,” said a dejected UM coach Katie Meier. “It was ours to win and Florida just came and took it from us. They got tougher in the final minutes. They were a little bit more stubborn than us.”

UM guard Haley Cavinder had her best game as a Hurricane, knocking down 10 of 14 shots from the field, and was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc for a season-high 25 points.

Cavinder made a trio of three-pointers in the opening minutes and had 11 points by the end of the first quarter. She converted on her first five three-point attempts.

She also had six assists and four rebounds on Sunday, her biggest day in a UM jersey since transferring with her twin sister, Hanna, from Fresno State.

“Haley stepped up, I was waiting for her big breakout game, and I think this was it,” Meier said.

Cavinder said: “These kinds of games are why I came to Miami.”

Destiny Harden added 18 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Lazaria Spearman recorded her second double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

But in the closing minutes of regulation and in overtime, with the game on the line, the Gators prevented Cavinder and Harden from scoring.

Miami took a 58-52 lead with six minutes to go on a driving layup by Cavinder. She never scored again. UF guard Nina Rickards scored the Gators’ next 10 points to give the visitors a 64-63 edge, and it was 65-65 at the end of regulation.

The Canes led by one with a minute to go in overtime, but KK Deans got to the line for Florida and made them both. UM took a time out and drew up a play but didn’t execute it and Ja’Leah Williams missed a three-point heave with 15 seconds to go. Deans got fouled again, made her free throws, and Cavinder’s three-point attempt in the closing seconds was blocked.

“Their guards did a really nice job of not letting us get it to who we wanted to get it to in key moments,” Meier said. “In big moments we needed a couple more special plays to win this one and we didn’t come up with them.”

The game featured two sets of twins — the Cavinders for Miami and the Wyche twins (Tatyana and Taliyah) for the Gators. The Wyche sisters are Fort Lauderdale natives who attended American Heritage High and had a large and loud fan section rooting for them.

Tatyana had six points and five rebounds. Taliyah had two points and four rebounds. Rickards led UF with 23 points and seven rebounds. Deans had 21.

Note: UM sophomore forward Latasha Lattimore will miss the remainder of the 2022-23 season due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury sustained earlier this month. A transfer from the University of Texas, Lattimore was averaging 7.7 points and 3.2 rebounds through nine games.

“Tasha has been such an important part of our team this season and we are going to severely miss her size and skill on the basketball court,” Meier said.