Dec. 11, 2004
Final Stats
VALPARAISO, Ind.--After trailing by eight points with under four minutes remaining, Miami University's women's basketball team got a bucket from junior Cindi Merrill (Noblesville, IN/Noblesville) with two seconds remaining, lifting the RedHawks to a 54-53 win at Valparaiso University Saturday afternoon in the Crusaders' Athletics-Recreation Center.
Plagued by a rash of early turnovers, Miami's offense struggled out of the gates while Valparaiso inched out to a 12-8 edge by the second media timeout at 11:19. With Merrill providing almost all of the RedHawks' offense Miami trailed 14-10 with 7:39 remaining in the half and neither team clicking offensively.
By making the most of its trips to the free throw line, Valparaiso began to stretch its advantage and led 22-12 after two charity tosses at 4:12. Miami would trail by as many as 12 points before a Merrill 3-pointer with 2:10 in the half finally breathed life into Miami's offense. The RedHawks got points out of four of their final five possessions, including a buzzer-beating Nicki Motto (Dayton, OH/Oakwood) lay-up right before the half, to trim its halftime deficit to 24-20.
Merrill tallied 13 of Miami's 20 points, including 13 of the first 15, as the RedHawks committed 13 turnovers and connected on just 9-of-30 (.300) field goals in the half. Valpo hit on just 7-of-27 (.259) first-half shots but was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Five straight points from Amanda Jackson (Springfield, OH/South) early in the second half, rallied Miami to within a point, but Valparaiso heated up over the next several minutes, building its lead to as high as 39-32 with 10:40 to play. Senior Kim Smith (Gary, IN/West Side) stepped up in the paint, pouring in six points over a three-minute stretch to trim the gap to three, but with 7:53 remaining, Miami trailed 45-40.
A 3-pointer by Valpo's Carrie Myers pressed Valpo's lead to eight points with seven minutes to play, and the RedHawks still trailed 50-42 with under four minutes left. Behind Merrill and Jackson, Miami would assemble the decisive charge, closing to within 51-50 after a Jackson bucket in the lane with 1:23 remaining. After coming up with a key stop, Miami got a Jackson jumper with 31 seconds left to claim its first lead of the game.
A pair of free throws by Betsy Rietema put the Crusaders back in front with 17 seconds to play, setting up Miami's final possession. After ripping the ball away from a defender, Merrill drove to the paint and scored the game-winning bucket on a running one-hander.
Merrill led the way, tallying 20 points and snagging a team-high eight rebounds, while Jackson added 17 points, all in the second half, to bust out a mild slump. Miami committed just five second-half turnovers and outrebounded Valpo 48-33.
Miami is away from competition for the next week while it takes final exams and resumes action on Dec. 18 when it travels to Seton Hall. The RedHawks play their final game before the Christmas break on Dec. 20 at Manhattan.
