Dec. 3, 2017 Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)
OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University women's basketball team rolled the visiting Golden Griffins of Canisius College on Sunday at Millett Hall for a 72-47 victory. The RedHawks improve to 4-3 on the season, while Canisius falls to 2-5.
Sophomore Lauren Dickerson led all scorers with 22 points. With this performance, Dickerson continued her streak of 17 straight double-digit games, and marked her fifth 20-point game this season. Junior Kendall McCoy also had a big day, contributing 16 points and nine rebounds.
The Canisius zone defense initially gave the RedHawks some trouble on their first few possessions, but a trio of buckets from senior forward Megan Galloway sparked the offense and helped Miami to an 8-6 lead at the 4:19 mark of the first quarter. Dickerson would then score the next eight Miami points, including an and-one layup with 2.3 seconds left to go ahead 16-13, a lead which would never be relinquished.
The RedHawks came out strong to start the half, going on a 10-2 run to push their lead up to 24-15 halfway into the quarter. They continued their defensive intensity throughout the quarter, smothering the Golden Griffin offense and giving up only seven points in the second. The Miami lead continued to grow behind this defensive effort, and the `Hawks went to the locker room with a 36-20 advantage. Dickerson led the way, scoring 18 points in the opening half.
The two teams would trade baskets to kick off the first few minutes of the third quarter. Back-to-back three pointers from Kendall McCoy then pulled Miami away even further, making the score 50-28 with 3:09 left to play in the third. The RedHawk defense continued to buckle down, and held the Golden Griffins to just three points in the last five minutes of the quarter to take a 55-31 lead into the fourth.
The final quarter featured more hard defense and efficient offense: the RedHawks would build their lead to 68-37 going into the under-five media timeout. Freshman Kenzie Schmitz scored her first career points in the closing minutes, and Miami cruised down the stretch to close out the 72-47 victory.
First-year coach Megan Duffy's squad limited Canisius to only 32.7 percent shooting in the game. The 47 points given up by the Red and White marks the least they've allowed all season, and the least since a 69-47 win over Fort Wayne on Dec. 19, 2016. The `Hawks shot 54.9 percent from the floor, and 53.5 percent from three-point range. MU out-rebounded Canisius by a 40-22 margin.
The RedHawks will be back in action on Wednesday when they head to IUPUI for a 7 p.m. contest against the Jaguars. They will be back in Millett Hall on Saturday, to take on Jacksonville State as part of a doubleheader with the men's team. The men will take on Fort Wayne at 1 p.m., with the women's game to follow.
