The NCAA women’s Sweet 16 kicked off Friday with Miami securing a spot in the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. The No. 9 Hurricanes survived a second-half surge by the No. 4 Villanova Wildcats to advance, and will next face the winner of the 5 p.m. ET game between No. 2 Utah and No. 3 LSU.
The Athletic has you covered with takeaways from the biggest games of the day:
Miami survives Villanova
Miami won another close tournament game. This time, it earned the Hurricanes their first trip to the Elite Eight in program history.
No. 9 seed Miami held off No. 4 seed Villanova in Greenville, S.C., for a 70-65 victory behind Jasmyn Roberts’ 26 points, including two crucial free throws down the stretch. The Hurricanes have won their three tournament games by a combined eight points.
The Sweet 16 meeting appeared initially like Miami was going to cruise. But Villanova’s defensive pressure and another big scoring night from Maddy Siegrist allowed the Wildcats to scrap back from a 21-point deficit.
Siegrist’s 31 points moved her into second place for the second-most points scored in a single Division I season. The senior will move on to the WNBA, where she’s expected to be a first-round draft pick next month.
Miami keeps playing as the worst-seeded team left in the…
