This Week in ‘Canes Women’s Hoops: November 19 Edition

The Miami Hurricanes Women’s Basketball team is off to a 3-0 start with dominant wins over Jackson State, North Florida, and IUPUI. The week ahead will see the ‘Canes take their first road trip of the season to the Maggie Dixon Classic in Chicago, IL to face North Carolina A&T.

So far this year preseason ACC Player of the Year Beatrice Mompremier has been as advertised. She’s been unstoppable for opposing teams, nearly averaging a double-double with 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds a night.

The entire squad has played well on both ends of the court all season to date. The ‘Canes are out rebounding opponents by five boards a night and are shooting 48% from the floor. Miami has held opposing teams to just 39% shooting and has forced an average of 21 turnovers per game.

In addition to the solid start to game action, the Hurricanes had a solid start in the national polls. The ‘Canes opened the season at No.17 in the AP Poll before moving up a spot in yesterday’s new edition of the poll:

The Week Ahead

As previously mentioned, the week ahead sees the ‘Canes take the court in a tournament, the Maggie Dixon Classic, over the weekend. Miami’s first opponent in the tournament will be North Carolina A&T.

The Aggies come into the contest at 2-2 on the year. NC A&T has lost big to both Power 5 opponents they’ve played, 80-44 to NC State and 72-54 to Georgia, but have talent. The Aggies made the WNIT last season, and while Miami should win, they can’t afford to let their guard down.

North Carolina A&T is led on the court by junior forward Deja Winters, who is averaging 17.7 points a night to go along with 6.3 rebounds. She’ll be a threat on the inside and a good early season test for Beatrice Mompremier and the rest of the ‘Canes’ front court defense.

Additionally, the Aggies have been outscoring and outrebounding opponents all season, and Miami will have to ensure they continue to shoot well and play strong in the paint for boards.

Miami’s other opponent in the four team tournament will be either DePaul, the hosts of the tournament, or Arkansas State. DePaul is extremely talented and is a Top 20 team in every major poll. It’s expected that Miami would face the Blue Demons on Saturday in what would be a true road game. A win in that game for the ‘Canes would be a huge early season resume building win for Miami and provide legitimacy to the ‘Canes hype as a preseason ACC title contender.

The ‘Canes have a big weekend ahead on the court and an opportunity for a huge road win in the early part of the season. Miami will take the court at 2:30 P.M. Eastern on Friday for their game against North Carolina A&T, and then play their second game of the week the very next day with the tip-off time determined by the ‘Canes performance Friday.