{"id":216349,"date":"2026-04-02T18:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/216349\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:00:16","slug":"miamis-ups-and-downs-a-season-of-talent-and-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/216349\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami\u2019s ups and downs: a season of talent and struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photographer Bella Ochoa \/\/ The Women’s basketball team huddles under the basket against Syracuse University on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

With high expectations fueled by a top-10 ranked recruiting class and a complete roster overhaul, the 2025-2026 University of Miami\u2019s women\u2019s basketball team fell short of expectations, finishing with an 18-15 record marked with inconsistencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes finished 12th in the Atlantic Coast Conference and reached the second round in the ACC tournament, defeating Stanford <\/a>in overtime before falling to Notre Dame<\/a> 69-54. Miami\u2019s season ended in the second round of the Women\u2019s Basketball Invitation Tournament with a 72-65 loss to Wisconsin<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the start of the season, Miami secured a top-10 ranked recruiting class<\/a> that included Camillie Williams, Danielle Osho, Natalie Wetzel, Meredith Tippner and Emanuel\u2019s Okolo. The Hurricanes also added a top-15 ranked transfer class, highlighted by<\/a> key players like Ra Shaya Kyle, Gal Raviv and Amarachi Kimpson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite returning just one player, Ahnay Adamd, the previous season, Miami entered the year with promise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes opened the season with a 112-62 win over Lynn on Oct. 18 and built early momentum before suffering their first loss against Iowa 64-61 on Nov. 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Miami\u2019s longest win streak was just four games, reflecting an inability to sustain consistent play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Key ACC wins included a 75-67 victory over Virginia Tech<\/a> on Jan.1 and 75-66 win against SMU<\/a> on Jan.25. Still, losses to Duke<\/a> 74-58, on Jan. 29, and Virginia<\/a>, 65-60 on Feb.5 highlighted ongoing struggles\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a team, Miami shot<\/a> 30.6% three point percentage, 43.5% field goal, and 67.2% from the free throw line. The Canes recorded 1,192 rebounds, 412 assists, 213 steals and 439 turnovers; while also making 823 out of 1880 attempted field goals and 355 out of 531 free throws.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kyle and Raviv led the team with Kyle averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game, while Raviv added 13 points and four assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photographer Bella Ochoa \/\/ Graduate student center Ra Shaya Kyle takes it to the basket against Pittsburgh on Feb. 26, 2026 at Watsco<\/p>\n

Despite its talent, Miami\u2019s season ultimately ended due to lack of\u00a0 execution. The Hurricanes fluctuated between strong offensive performance and games where they failed to meet expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That pattern of uneven performance is evident in Miami\u2019s two matchups against Florida State Miami won the first game meeting 89-73 on Jan.11th in Coral Gables<\/a>. The Canes shot 47% from field goal, 32% from beyond the arc and 75% from free throws. In the rematch on Feb.8<\/a>, Miami lost 87-70 shooting 36% from field goal, 19% from three point range and 61% from free throws.<\/p>\n

A similar trend appeared in Miami\u2019s two games against Stanford as well. Miami won both \u2013 65-52 on Feb.19<\/a> and 83-76 in overtime on March 4<\/a>, but posted inconsistent shooting numbers in each outing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those fluctuations ultimately contributed to Miami\u2019s early exit in both the ACC tournament and WBIT.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, the outlook remains optimistic. Under head coach Tricia Cullop, Miami is set to add international players<\/a>, Mara Uranker from Slovenia and Anna Liepina from Latvia ahead of the 2026 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With another recruiting class and incoming transfers expected, the Hurricanes will look to build more consistency and turn potential into results next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Miami\u2019s Women\u2019s Basketball Team prepares for their matchup against Florida Atlantic University at Watsco on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. \/\/ Bella Ochoa \u2013 Staff Photographer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photographer Bella Ochoa \/\/ The Women’s basketball team huddles under the basket against Syracuse University on Sunday, Feb.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-216349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}