Miami 69, No. 6 Penn St. 65
Miami is getting used to celebrating home victories against nationally ranked teams.
One night after the Hurricanes men's team beat No. 13 Michigan State, the women did one better with a 69-65 victory over No. 6 Penn State on Thursday.
Morgan Stroman scored 15 points and Stefanie Yderstrom finished with 13 points to lead the Hurricanes (5-1).
''It's like a family, they're our brothers,'' Stroman said of the men's team. ''They got their big win (Wednesday) and we had to do the same and pull the upset.''
Suriya McGuire's layup with 14 seconds remaining broke a 65-all tie. Alex Bentley had a chance to tie it but her jumper with 5 seconds left bounced off the rim. Miami's Michelle Woods grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
Woods made both free throws with 2 seconds remaining to secure the win for Miami.
''I hadn't felt we were meeting our talent level how we were playing this season,'' Miami coach Katie Meier said. ''This is a big moment. This is a big gap we had to close.''
Maggie Lucas led the Lions (5-1) with a game-high 20 points and Bentley finished with 14 points.
''There's a lot of basketball left, it's November,'' Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. ''If we're going to put our tail between our legs after one loss, that's not the character that our team has. Our team will bounce back and play better.''
Woods' three-point play with 35 seconds left gave the Hurricanes a 65-62 lead. Woods finished with 11 points.
The Lions' Lucas hit a 3 to tie it with 23 seconds remaining.
Bentley's layup with 8:47 remaining in the second half gave the Lions their first lead at 51-49. Lucas' two free throws with 8:22 left increased Penn State's lead to 53-49 and ended a 10-0 run.
Miami responded with a 3-pointer and jumper from Yderstrom and a layup by Stroman in the next 3:01 and retook the lead, 56-53.
Penn State rallied from a 10-point deficit midway through the first half and outscored Miami, 13-4, during a 5:03 stretch.
Bentley's short jumper with 5:35 remaining pulled the Lions to 24-23.
The Lions twice tied it but couldn't overtake Miami in the first half. After Mia Nickson's basket with 2:00 left tied it at 29, the Hurricanes finished the first half on a 7-0 run. Woods' driving layup with 15 seconds remaining ended the surge and gave Miami at 36-29 lead at halftime.
The Hurricanes forced nine Penn State turnovers in the first 4:25 and opened an 8-0 lead. Stroman's two baskets keyed Miami's early surge. The Lions tied their season high for turnovers for a game in the first half with 20 and the game with 29.
''We were resilient and we did it with our defense,'' Meier said. ''Those two kids, Lucas and Bentley, they had to work for every point they got.''
Keyona Hayes' short jumper with 11:48 remaining gave Miami their first double-digit lead at 20-10.