This Week in ‘Canes Women’s Hoops: December 1st Edition

The Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team is off to a 2-0 start with two dominant wins over Jacksonville and North Florida. The program hit a milestone with the win over North Florida, notching the 800th victory in program history.

The season got off to a great start last Wednesday with a 74-58 win over Jacksonville. The Hurricanes had four players get to double-digits in scoring including Kelsey Marshall who had a game-high 22 points.

Through two games Marshall is the Hurricanes’ leading scorer. The senior is averaging 17.5 points per game. Marshall is also contributing elsewhere, with 3.5 assists and 3 rebounds a game to go along with the scoring. Marshall, as one of Miami’s leading returning players and a starter of 29 games last season, was expected to be key for the Hurricanes this season and it’s great to see her off to a great start this year.

Miami played even better last Saturday in an 81-39 win over North Florida. Five Hurricanes scored double-digit points. Taylor Mason was incredible for the Hurricanes, notching a double-double and showing why so many around the program were excited about her potential this season.

Through two games the Hurricanes are shooting 43% from the field and averaging 77.5 points per game. It’s only been two games, and they were both against opponents Miami should beat, but the Hurricanes’ offensive performance is certainly encouraging. If the Hurricanes can continue their current play on both ends of the court the entire year it could be a great season for the program.

The week ahead will see Miami’s last two non-conference games of the season before ACC play begins on December 9. On Thursday the Hurricanes will take on FAU at the Watsco Center, before finishing up non-conference play against Stetson on Sunday. It should be noted though, that the Stetson game is likely to be cancelled after the Hatters paused all team activities due to coronavirus last Saturday.

Florida Atlantic is 1-0 heading into this week after a 93-81 win over North Florida last week. The Owls are an experienced team, with four returning starters from last season and 13 returning players overall.

Lotta Vehka-Aho, in particular, is one of FAU’s best players. The sophomore is their leading returning scorer, and had 14 points and three assists in last week’s win over UNF. Allie Tylka is another player to watch out for on the Owls, as she had 19 points in the first game of the season last week.

Stetson has not yet played this season due to issues with the coronavirus. If Miami and Stetson do play this weekend, Day’Neshia Banks will be a player to watch out for. Banks is the leading returning scorer in the Atlantic Sun conference and she is key to everything the Hatters do. Additionally, senior center Megan Vincent is key for the Hatters as an interior presence and ranks third in program history in blocked shots.

Miami will be favored in both scheduled games this week will look to give themselves some momentum heading into a tough ACC schedule. The Hurricanes have had a strong start to the season, and hopefully that can be continued as the Hurricanes face tougher opponents later on in the year.